OCT 03 86 16:46 TIBCOOL) HK GOVT
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Tuesday, September 231 Seven major contracts for the Daya Bay
project would be signed at the Great Hall of the People in Paking at
4.30 pm today, the media reported prominently.
要
Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang would meet representatives of the French and the British companies and officials from the authorities concerned one hour before the signing ceremony.
Reports from Peking quoted the first deputy general manager of the Guangdong Nuclear Power JVC, Sir Jack Cater, as saying that the overall building cost for the Daya Bay plant would be about US$3.7 billion.
However, a managing director of the HKNIC, Steven Poon, was quoted as saying that the project involved a total cost of US$3.5 billion.
According to Sir Jack, the guarantee by China that electricity from the Daya Bay plant would not be higher than that available in HK in the first six years of its operation was the best that China could come up with.
He told reporters in Peking that the plant would take seven years to build while the loan repayment period would be 15 years. Sir Jack believed that charges for power from Daya Bay would not fluctuate because the interest rate was fixed.
Sir Jack believed that equipment and facilities to be used at the plant would be the best in the world.
On reports that the budget for the project would be increased, Peter Littlewood of the Guangdong JVC told ATV that his company had no. plan at present to change the budget for the construction of the plant. He added that the budget would be reviewed every year.
Financial Secretary Piers Jacobs told the press yesterday after a public function that he was not aware that the budget for the Daya Bay plant would be revised. He said he was sure that negotiations related to the project would work to the interest of the HK consumer”.
In moderate coverage, the media reported that Legco Unofficial Szeto Wah welcomed China's decision to allow HK people to take part in the monitoring of the Daya Bay plant. But he felt that it would be better if international nuclear experts would be invited to monitor the plant as local people might lack the necessary knowledge to do the job.
Umelco member Maria Tam said yesterday that the Legco delegation. which had just returned from Peking would submit a brief report on their visit to Legco at an in-house meeting this Friday.
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