Britain gave the go-ahead for a $24 billion nuclear power plant.
Britain’s first new nuclear power plant will be built by French state-controlled utility firm EDF, backed by $8 billion of Chinese cash.
The deal is part of a recovery of the global nuclear power industry following a slump caused by the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.
The government drew fire for approving it without renegotiating the price British consumers will pay for electricity.
The UK government has given the go-ahead for the French and Chinese financed nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset.
Approval for the project comes with some new conditions attached, including a provision that the UK government has to be consulted if EDF, the French company behind the project, wants to sell its controlling stake.
The proposed new plant, known as Hinkley Point C, will be built next to two existing facilities, Hinkley Point A and B, and is set to begin generating electricity in 2025. But critics are still warning against escalating costs and the implications of nuclear power plants being built in the UK by foreign governments.
The new plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset is being financed by the French and Chinese governments.
EDF is funding two-thirds of the project, which will create more than 25,000 jobs, with China investing the remaining £6bn.
The Chinese agreed to take a stake in Hinkley, which will meet 7% of Britain’s electricity needs, and to develop a new nuclear power station at Sizewell in Suffolk on the understanding that the UK government would approve a Chinese-led and designed project at Bradwell in Essex. That decision has raised questions over national security.