The UK’s much anticipated “nuclear renaissance” may be about to get under way. As is being reported pretty much everywhere, the French energy giant EDF announced that it will take over British Energy for a whopping £12.4 billion (US$23 billion).

British Energy is the owner of pretty much every nuclear plant in the UK, but those ageing plants are of limited interest to EDF. Much more interesting to the company is the real-estate that the plants are built on. Because that land is already home to reactors, it should be much easier for EDF to construct new plants on the sites.

It’s no coincidence that a French company is driving the UK’s nuclear renaissance. Over 75% of France’s electricity comes from nuclear power, and the company behind the French plants, Areva, is the obvious candidate to build the new British reactors.