The extra cash is also aimed at attracting new partners to Sizewell C, which is led by French energy giant EDF and located on the Suffolk coast.

"The funding commitment... will be used to continue the development of the project," said a statement from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

The boost will also "aim to attract further financing from private investors and, subject to value for money and relevant approvals, the UK government".

EDF owns 80 percent of the project and China's state-owned nuclear firm CGN holds the remainder.

The government began talks with EDF over the project last year, amid reports that China could be ousted due to chilling relations between London and Beijing.

Britain has already allotted pound1.7 billion ($2.3 billion, 2.04 billion euros) of funding for the development of a large-scale nuclear project, with a final investment decision due by 2024.

CGN is also working alongside EDF in the construction of Hinkley Point, in southwest England, in Britain's first new nuclear power plant in more than two decades.

Britain has a total of 15 nuclear reactors at eight sites around the country, but many of them are now approaching the end of their lifespan.

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EDF - ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE

CGN Power