The French Government seized control of Britain’s nuclear industry yesterday in a £12.5 billion deal that promises to transform the way electricity is produced in Britain.

But the acquisition of British Energy by EDF, which is 84 per cent owned by the French State, provoked a furious backlash as critics claimed it risked triggering further increases in energy prices by eroding competition in the power market, while others attacked EDF’s environmental record.

Peter Luff, MP, chairman of the House of Commons Trade and Industry Select Committee, told The Times that he planned to summon John Hutton, the Business Secretary, to answer questions about the impact of the deal on consumers this autumn.In Britain alone, EDF already generates 6 per cent of the electricity and supplies nearly eight million customers.

It wants to use its acquisition of British Energy, whose one coal-fired and eight nuclear plants generate up to 20 per cent of Britain’s electricity, as a springboard for its most ambitious international expansion to date.

EDF wants to build four giant new nuclear reactors on two sites currently owned by British Energy: Hinkley Point in Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk. They will each generate 1.6 gigawatts of power and be built to a French design using so-called EPR technology.

EDF’s 58 French reactors generate more than 80 per cent of France’s electricity supplies. But there are fears that EDF would use all of the total power generated from nuclear in this country if the deal goes through, leaving other energy companies to pay higher prices in the wholesale market.

In Paris, the takeover is viewed as a prestige industrial project that will ensure a steady flow of exports for France’s nuclear and engineering industries for decades. The EPR reactor is designed to operate for 50-60 years, compared with 30-40 years for conventional reactors.

The Government, which will scoop £4 billion from the sale of its 35 per cent stake in British Energy, has also welcomed the deal. It believes that it represents an important step towards cutting carbon emissions and rebuilding Britain’s crumbling power infrastructure, which is becoming increasingly unstable as old nuclear and coal-fired plants are retired from service.

Only one existing British reactor, Sizewell B, will still be operational by 2023. On its own, British Energy was viewed as having insufficient muscle to develop replacements. In contrast, EDF has deep pockets and is the world’s biggest nuclear generator.

Mr Luff said that his committee would call in Ofgem, the power industry regulator, and the Competition Commission to scrutinise the deal.

“We already have a gross lack of transparency in Britain’s wholesale electricity market,” he said. “Any deal between EDF and British Energy must contain robust safeguards to ensure there is proper long-term competition.”

Lindsay Hoyle, a Labour member of the committee, said that a combination of the two groups could force up prices by creating an overly dominant player in the industry.

Gordon Brown welcomed the EDF purchase as “good value for the taxpayer and a significant step towards the construction of a new generation of nuclear stations”.

He added: “Nuclear is clean, secure and affordable. Its expansion is crucial for Britain’s long-term energy security, as we reduce our oil dependence and move towards a low-carbon future.”

But Nathan Argent, head of Greenpeace’s nuclear campaign, dismissed the Prime Minister’s claims.

“Just yesterday Gordon Brown promised the UK a million green-collar jobs in the manufacturing sector, but his push for nuclear power has led to a deal which will benefit the French taxpayer and create French jobs. This sale will do nothing to tackle climate change or energy security. This is about turning the UK into a billboard for the French Government’s nuclear sales programme.”

Others focused on concerns about a uranium leak from an EDF plant in southern France this summer, which undermined confidence in EDF’s otherwise impressive safety record.

Brian Binley (C, Northampton South), said that it was wrong for Britain to hand over control of such a key strategic industry and raised concerns about the impact on sovereignty: “We hear a lot of talk about globalisation but in times of difficulty interests seem to get narrowed down.”

He pointed out that it was ironic that Britain’s once world-beating nuclear industry was now being forced to call on the French to develop new stations.

The first commercial nuclear power station for civil use anywhere in the world was opened by the Queen at Calder Hall in Sellafield, West Cumbria, in 1956.

Britain led the world in civil atomic power for much of the next 20 years but a decision doggedly to pursue an esoteric technology, the Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor, proved a costly mistake when the rest of the world adopted a different technology, the so-called pressurised water reactor.

The French reactors earmarked for use by EDF are the latest generation of this kind.

Chain reaction

1953 Plans announced for a 100MW nuclear power station at Calder Hill

1955 White Paper proposes 12 Magnox stations, generating 4,200MW. Oldbury and Wylfa still in use

1956 Queen opens Calder Hill, world's first commercial nuclear power station

1964 Second phase of nuclear programme, 5,000MW of advanced gas-cooled reactors

1976 Hinkley B and Hunterston B on line

1983 Heysham 1, Hartlepool and Dungeness B on line

1988 Heysham 2 and Torness on line. Construction of Sizewell B, UK's only pressurised water reactor

1990 Magnox closures begin 1995 Sizewell B on line

1996 UK nuclear energy production peaks, at 30 per cent of nation's electricity

2003 White Paper says nuclear's economics are “unattractive”

2006 Official review suggests increased nuclear generation may help to meet targets for CO2 emissions

2008 Government approves third generation of nuclear power stations

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