Korean energy firm rescues UK's Moorside nuclear power project

State-owned Kepco confirmed as preferred bidder to build reactors in Cumbria

A state-owned South Korean energy firm is to take over construction of a troubled nuclear power station planned in north-west England, in a significant boost for the UK government's nuclear ambitions.

Kepco has been declared the preferred bidder for the NuGeneration consortium, which looked doomed earlier this year after the Japanese owner Toshiba was hit by writedowns and the eventual bankruptcy of its US nuclear subsidiary.