New nuclear plants create 15,000 jobs

Up to 15,000 jobs were being lined up today as two of Britain's major industrial companies were brought in to help the French build Britain's new fleet of nuclear power stations.

Areva, the French nuclear plant builder, today chose Rolls-Royce and Balfour Beatty as its partners to construct four new power stations for its partner EDF, the soon-to-be new owner of British Energy.

Balfour Beatty has a 50-year history in the British nuclear industry having worked at the Sellafield nuclear waste site and on British Energy's current ageing atomic plants.

The firm, however, is never far from controversy, having been criticised in the past for its role in the fatal Hatfield train derailment. More recently it has been fined by the Serious Fraud Office and investigated by the Office of Fair Trading.

Likely sites for the new nuclear plants include Dungeness in Kent, Bradwell in Essex and Sizewell in Suffolk.