The General Court, Europe's second highest, in July confirmed a decision of the European Commission to approve UK government aid for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.

The tribunal ruled it was up to each individual EU state to decide which type of energy technology to pursue, even if fellow members disagreed.

Anti-nuclear Austria challenged the commission's green light for the project before the General Court in 2015. The court ruled against Vienna in July this year.

Austria was backed by Luxembourg and nuclear activists, while Britain had the support of the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

On Wednesday, an Austrian cabinet meeting agreed to lodge an appeal against the July ruling, the ministry in charge of sustainability said.

"Austria continues to have the viewpoint that nuclear energy is not the technology of the future and that it gives the wrong sign to present subsidies for the construction of nuclear power plants as harmless," the ministry said in a submission to the cabinet.

The British government says Hinkley is vital for the country's energy security, as most existing nuclear stations are due to close before 2023.

The pound19.6-billion ($25-billion, 22-billion-euro) project, to be built by French energy giant EDF and the China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN), is highly symbolic of Britain's nuclear renewal.

Austria has long campaigned against nuclear power, bolstered by a referendum in 1978 rejecting atomic energy.

jza/mlr

EDF - ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE

CGN Power