Pressure continues to be heaped upon the management of EDF over Hinkley C with the latest news that a member of the firm’s board has openly said the plan should be abandoned.

Christian Taxil of the CFE-CGC trade union has a place on the board of directors. He is reported to have said that conditions were "not right" for the £18bn project. In a story in today’s Financial Times he expressed his opposition to the Somerset power plant in a letter to EDF employees.

The trade union believes further investment in Hinkley Point C should be delayed until 2019 due to the problems with the reactor and the financial viability of EDF. In a further development the Financial Times said in a leaked internal document engineers had questioned the current design of the reactor and said redesign was needed that was less complex and cheaper.

In response EDF said: “In recent days, a number of unfounded rumours and fanciful stories, from anonymous sources, have been put out in the media. They explicitly target, in a concerted way, the project to build two new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point.

“EDF refutes these rumours and confirms that the date of first operation of the first reactor is fixed at the end of 2025 and that no delay is anticipated. EDF regards this anonymous press campaign as seriously harmful to our interests as well as the interests of the industry and to jobs in France and Europe.

“EDF would like to reiterate that the Board, or its committees, have already met on multiple occasions to consider the Hinkley Point project, based on detailed and exhaustive information. The Board will have at its disposal all the necessary information to make a decision once the time has come to take the Final investment Decision.”

However the latest story comes on top of mounting problems for the energy giant from the departure of the finance director over fiscal concerns and delays in the final investment decision due to a shortage of cash.

Will Hinkley C ever get built? Your views to harry.mottram@nqsw.co.uk