My Lords, I agree with the amendments put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Vaux of Harrowden. The noble Baroness, Lady Wilcox, introduced the amendments in the name of the noble Lord, Lord McNicol, extremely impressively, but I
agree with the noble Lord, Lord Vaux, that they go too far by effectively excluding all companies owned by foreign powers.
It is a matter of great regret to me that, in collaborating with Japan on nuclear energy, the projects at Wylfa, Ynys Môn, of Hitachi’s Horizon, and at Moorside, Sellafield, of Toshiba, were both cancelled. Perhaps if the Bill before the Committee had already been on the statute book, there would have been a good chance that either or both might have been rescued. If either project had gone ahead, it was expected that one or both of the state-owned banks in Japan—the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, on which I declare my interest as a consultant to that bank, and the Development Bank of Japan—would have provided both or part of the equity and debt for those projects. On the face of it, if the amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord McNicol, were enacted, it would be impossible for those banks to participate, which would have killed the projects by another means.
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I very much agree with what my noble friend Lord Howell has just said. I too ask the Minister what the position is. I have heard that attempts are now being made to secure alternative investors to replace the 20% shareholding in Sizewell C. Some people are even suggesting that there is interest in replacing part or all of the 33% interest held by Chinese investors in Hinkley Point C. I would be grateful for more clarity on those points if the Minister is able to say any more.
In the same connection, I ask the Minister whether obtaining nuclear fuel and enriched uranium in particular will be treated in the same way as obtaining other forms of energy from Russia and/or China in future. Is the Minister confident that the business model of Urenco, the uranium enrichment company one-third owned by Her Majesty’s Government, continues to be viable? From where is the raw material sourced at present and where does the Minister think it will be sourced from in the future?