The United States’ nuclear regulator has rejected an application to build a new nuclear reactor in the state of Maryland on the East Coast.

As the two year anniversary of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster was remembered yesterday, the USA’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission are reported to have denied a licence for a third nuclear reactor at the Calvert Cliffs power station.

Commentators said they rejected the plans on the grounds too much of the reactor would be owned by a foreign firm, which would go against the Atomic Energy Act. This prohibits foreign ‘ownership, control or domination’ of a US nuclear reactor.

UniStar Nuclear, the firm which applied for a licence, is wholly owned by French energy firm EDF, which is 85% owned by the government of France. Calvert Cliffs-3 was to be an EPR reactor manufactured by the French firm Areva, also 85% owned by the French government.