UK’s Johnson pledges millions to fund new nuclear plant

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged 700 million pounds ($810 million) of government funding for a new nuclear power plant. It is part of a drive to improve the U.K.’s energy security. Johnson Thursday said the spike in global gas prices driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine showed why new nuclear generation capacity was needed in the U.K. French energy company EDF, which will partly fund the project, has said it can generate low-carbon electricity for at least 60 years when the project is complete. The plant will reportedly cost about 20 billion pounds ($23 billion). Talks about its funding are ongoing.