11 Apr 2016

How Chinese nuclear deal leaves UK vulnerable to CATASTROPHIC cyber attack

Beijing is planning to invest in two major nuclear power plant projects in a multi-billion pound contract that would give them access to Britain's strategic energy network.

No formal agreement between China and the UK has yet been signed, but energy experts have spoken out about the potential for "catastrophe" if the Chinese are given the green light to invest.
Security concerns centre on access to IT systems, with analysts warning the UK would be left vulnerable if relations continue sour to China over the coming years.

Britain's friendship with the communist state was strained recently over the Tata steel crisis with China putting a highly punitive tax on the metal produced in south Wales to further damage the UK industry.
But experts say a nuclear power deal would put the UK at the mercy of Beijing.
Dr Paul Dorfman, an advisor to the British Government on nuclear security and a senior research fellow at UCL's Energy Institute, said: "You don't want to let the Chinese into complex, strategic, national energy infrastructure and you certainly don't want them anywhere near nuclear.
"There are some real security issues here."


Fears have been raised about "backdoors" in IT technology that could be exploited by the Chinese government or rogue hackers.
Malicious IT breaches could allow data to be extracted or inserted into complex computer systems, allowing Beijing to circumvent British control of a nuclear plant and shut it down.
GCHQ will be on standby to protect the UK from the threat of a cyber attack if the Chinese are allowed to build at Hinkley Point in Somerset and Bradwell in Essex.


Some argue that the Chinese would not launch an attack on their own power station, but the secretive communist state has a long history of online espionage.
The Chinese are hoping to invest in both Hinkley and Bradwell and the Chancellor has already announced a £2bn government guarantee to secure Chinese funding for the power station, which is being jointly built with French energy giant EDF.
A final decision on expanding the power plant is expected next month.


But the Government has already come in for criticism that the deal involves purchasing electricity at £92.50 per megawatt hour over a 35 year period, more than double the current price.
George Osborne's handling of the negotiations have also been attacked, with Dr Dorfman questioning his deal-making skills.
If a deal does go ahead, Hinkley is not due to come online until 2025 at the earliest after a string of setbacks and costly delays.


Were a deal to be signed with the Chinese, Britain would have to maintain friendly relations with the communist regime for at least 10 years just to get the reactor up and running.
Dr Dorfman said Britain's energy infrastructure would then be at the mercy of the Chinese government for decades after that, throughout the lifetime of the plant.
He told Express.co.uk the UK was the only developed country that had "kowtowed" to pressure from China and was pressing ahead with the controversial purchase of the latest batch of costly reactors.

He added: "The Chinese are quite tough cookies, they are not very friendly.
"It is one thing to do business with them, everyone wants to do business with China, that is fine, but there is no developed country that would go anywhere near China for critical energy infrastructure.
"The Americans won't even let them into transport technology. We are the only country that has kowtowed, completely kowtowed to this, and there are live security issues.
"The Government has come back saying 'don't worry GCHQ [the UK intelligence service] will look at it and everything will be fine, it will be ok', but nobody believes it."

Caroline Baylon, a cyber security specialist at the Chatham House think tank, said she believes the current deal could end badly for Britain.
She said: "If the international situation changes, the UK may find itself in a tricky spot if this Chinese deal goes through. Today's alliances are not tomorrow's alliances."
A spokesperson for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: “The UK has one of the strongest levels of nuclear regulation in the world, with the Office for Nuclear Regulation monitoring sites on a regular basis to ensure that stringent levels of security and safety are maintained and to protect sensitive nuclear information.
“Any nuclear power station built in the UK complies with our robust nuclear regulations, and all employees and contractors in the civil nuclear industry are subject to rigorous personnel security and vetting arrangements.”