Is the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant project about to unravel?

EDF's chief financial officer has reportedly quit over the Hinkley Point project. Credit: EDF Energy/PA Wire

From the outside looking in, EDF's bid to build a nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset seems to lurch from the ludicrously improbable to the absurd.

This morning, the French energy company is spinning the resignation of Thomas Piquemal as another hurdle cleared; one less non-believer on the board to deal with.

It's much more than that.

As Finance Director, Piquemal was effectively chief accountant. He is of the view that the £18 billion project is a stretch too far, even with the China General Nuclear Power Corporation sharing some of the risk. That's pretty devastating.

Thomas Piquemal was said to be concerned about the cost of the nuclear project. Credit: EDF Energy/PA Wire

A month ago the director of the Hinkley project, Chris Bakken, also quit to take up a new post in the US and spend more time with his family. He'd been in charge of the project since 2011.

Why worry?

EDF is heavily in debt and heavily committed elsewhere: upgrading France's own fleet of nuclear reactors will cost £43 billion; the new EPR (European Pressurised Reactor) technology is unproven and has yet to generate a single unit of electricity.

If Hinkley were to overrun in the way existing projects in France and Finland have done, EDF could find itself in trouble.

EDF has given assurances that it is close to making a final decision on the project. Credit: Justin Tallis / PA Archive/PA Images

By 2025, Hinkley is supposed to be generating 7% of Britain's electricity. Will the project unravel? Goodness, there would be uproar if it did.

Reputations are pinned to the project - within the company, within government. The chancellor, George Osborne, has bent over backwards to make this happen.

If Hinkley fails he would face personal criticism of an intensity far higher than the hullabaloo over Google's tax affairs.

Happily for the chancellor EDF looks resolved to press on. The risks are considerable, so too are the potential rewards. We're told the balance of executives on the EDF board are committed to the project.

Last week France's Economy Minister, Emmanuel Macron, called Hinkley a "very good investment". This matters as the French government owns an 85% stake in EDF and oversees its budgets.

The final say will rest with EDF's largest shareholder.