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M Esper said that what was being discussed was an agreement between commercial firms. The fact was that Framatome could supply fuel while GEC could not. He added that in preparing for the meeting the French had assumed that the objectives would be to combine the advantages of both sides and thus increase the chance of a successful bid for the Guangdong project. He was convinced that it was right to combine forces with the UK but it was not reasonable for anyone other than Framatome to supply the fuel. Mr Benjamin said that there were a number of lobbies in the UK. It was not difficult to show that there would be greater advantage for British firms in following the non-French route. Interrupting sharply, M Esper Isaid that if the British had a better opportunity elsewhere they should take it.
18. Mr Manzie said the question was how to proceed following the present meeting. He would now have to report to Ministers. In the meantime the GEC/Framatome discussions would continue. Perhaps there should be another meeting at government level fairly soon ?. M Esper said the French government were ready to approve an agreement between GEC and Framatome. A further meeting between officials could be considered if points arose in the commercial negotiations which necessitated governmental discussion. If agreement was reached, an exchange of letters might suffice. In either case the French hoped that the conclusion of an agree- ment would not be long delayed since they regarded this as the best way of influencing the Chinese in favour of a positive decision on Guangdong.
19. At Mr Manzie's suggestion, Mr Manley raised the question of safety on which he thought there might have been some misunder- standing during M Pecqueur's visit to London. The Hong Kong government would wish to be satisfied about the safety of a reactor so close to Hong Kong and would look to the UK government for advice. The UK would have no difficulty in saying that French reactors were safe. But NNC and Westinghouse were close to a new PWR design which would be put to a public enquiry in mid-1982. In this design NNC and Westinghouse had incorporated a number of significant innovations aimed at meeting public criticisms of PWR designs post
Three Mile Island. It followed that there would be a presentational problem for the UK and Hông Kong governments if some design other than the new UK design were adopted for Guangdong. In his discussions with M Pecqueur, Marshall had simply been pointing to the existence of this presentational problem, which would not arise in a joint project with Westinghouse. The problem arose more particularly in relation to BONP since most of the UK design innovations were in this area. However, ways of dealing with it could be worked out jointly in an Anglo-French joint venture. Mr Manley under- stood that the possibility of changes in the French design had already been discussed. M Esper said this was an important question. But before considering it, one needed to be sure first that the Guangdong project was to go ahead and second that there would be an agreement between GEC and Framatome. There
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