GE Hitachi’s bid to construct nuclear power plants in the UK could be faced with obstacles in comparison to other tending offers due to a lack of existing UK supply chains.

The US-Japanese joint proposed programme, which would see £15 billion invested in Gloucestershire and Anglesey if the bid was successful, faces competition from rival bids including Westinghouse, owed by Toshiba and Areva. Both companies have designs being assessed by the UK’s Generic Design Assessment.

A Whitehall source told the Independent that GE Hitachi were hoping that previous experience in the filed would allow them to deliver faster than other bids, but that “they don't have a UK supply chain so it won't be that fast.”