The British government has stepped in to prevent the collapse of British Energy by giving the nuclear firm three weeks' emergency funding to negotiate a long-term rescue.
British Energy, which provides a quarter of Britain's electricity, said the state has agreed to provide £410 million sterling of emergency working capital until September 27th.
The news came as it emerged that three more of the cash-strapped company's reactors went offline over the weekend.
A maintenance shutdown at a reactor in August contributed to the group's decision to ask for a state handout last week.
The company has been in talks with the government for months about help for its ailing business, hit by a 40 per cent fall in British power prices since 1998.
But its announcement last week that it faced insolvency without government money came as a shock to investors. Its stock and bonds remain suspended after trading was frozen last week.
