CONFIDENTIAL
they can work out the details of the necessary contractual
relationship with their UK licensee, the National Nuclear
Corporation (NNC),
The arguments against such a partnership are:- ̈
(1) It is clear that there are factions within China- certainly
at provincial and possibly also at national government level
which favour a partnership with the Americans on the grounds
that they are likely to be able to offer more advanced technology
and greater technology transfer to China;
(2) We could not expect to win more than approximately £300m of
the total value of the contract since Framatome would expect
to supply virtually all the nuclear island equipment;
(3) The possibility of securing even a small proportion of the fuel
supply contract say £50m-is not rated highly by British Nuclear
Fuels Limited;
(4) GEC have no practical experience of working with Framatome, and
past Anglo-French industrial ventures have met with mixed success;
(5) We would be expected to match the financial terms offered by the
French which may involve conceding more favourable credit terms
than an Anglo/American package;
(6) While the granting of approval of the Sizewell PWR is a
public issue it would be unhelpful for HMG to appear to cast
doubts on the adequacy of the westinghouse.NNC design.
CONFIDENTIAL