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hand, the British side recognised that France had a strong interest in nuclear co-operation with China, and there were close links between the UK and France in the nuclear field. Against this background the British team wished to explore the possibility of a Franco-British joint proposal which would meet the requirement in Guangdong. They would like French reactions in order to report
back to Ministers.
5. Mr Manzie added that the UK would be looking for an exclu- sive arrangement for Guangdong. By this he meant that if agree- ment were reached there would be no separate all-French or all- British bid in competition with the joint bid. If however, the client decided against such a joint bid both sides would clearly have to accept their decision. The British side would also be looking for an even balance of advantage between UK and French interests in any joint approach.
6.
Concluding, Mr Manzie reiterated that the discussions must be regarded as without commitment at this stage.
7. M Esper said that the French hoped that Guangdong would be chosen by the Chinese as the site for their first nuclear power station; if it was not, a decision to proceed was likely to be delayed for a long time. But the French were not yet confident that the project would go ahead. What made the British side so sure ?
8. M Esper then remarked that it was difficult to predict how the Chinese would wish to proceed in calling for bids for the project. They might choose a negotiated contract with a partic- ular group, and that could be a good solution. But they might equally well go to international tender. French information was that the latter was more likely if the first station was built in Guangdong. But they were not certain that this would be the case, and even if it was, it did not necessarily rule out a joint GEC/Framatome proposal.
9. M Esper noted that GEC was the lead company on the UK side For France it was Framatome that was in the lead. But the French government were not in a position to prevent Alsthom from putting in a bid for conventional equipment if that was what the client appeared to want. Finally, he said that the French government were of course aware of the discussions between GEC and Framatome. They were not informed of the details of the discussions, but on the basis of the information available, M Esper could say that the French government would have no sericus objection to an agree- ment.