As the 'I's were being dotted and the 'T's crossed on the coalition deal, the nuclear industry held its breath.

Both Labour and the Conservatives had made clear their intention to back the construction of new power stations. Detailed plans for new reactors, including Hinkley Point C on the Somerset coast, were drawn up.

But the sight of Liberal Democrats marching into Downing Street sent a chill through the multi-national companies banking on a new generation of nuclear plants to keep Britain's lights on.

Richard Mayson sounds mightily relieved when he recalls the speed with which the new coalition moved to put their minds at rest. As EDF Energy's director of planning and external affairs for Nuclear New Build, he is overseeing the plans at Hinkley. For a brief he moment could have been forgiven for thinking it was back to the drawing board.

"The good news was the almost instant release of the coalition agreement which made it very clear how nuclear was going to be brought forward."

The Lib Dems could vote in accordance with their conscience – against nuclear – but the construction could go ahead, albeit without public subsidy. "I was very, very pleased. We were immediately reassured by that."

The new administration set a quick pace in announcing the abolition of numerous quangos, including the Infrastructure Planning Commission. But all is not as it seems.

"The current process with the IPC will continue until there is something there to replace it. That will need a new Bill in Parliament. That will take some time. I am convinced that we will be applying for Hinkley Point C to the IPC themselves."

The planning application will be one of the biggest ever submitted.

"Everything goes in at once so that people fully understand the scale of the development. In the old days, you had salami-slicing where people would make an application and then say oh by the way to do this we need such and such and to do that we need this.

"The idea of the new system is you have to apply for everything at once.

"The key thing for us has always been to be clear about how long it's going to take through planning. It's just too much risk if you have got open-ended public inquiries, which you had with Heathrow's Terminal 5, which took the best part of seven years by the time they got a decision."

The final planning application is expected to be submitted "this winter", though he declines to give more detail on timing. It partly depends on the latest stage of consultation around the major developments needed in the area around the Hinkley site, near Bridgwater.

After setting out initial plans for new roads, park and rides and accommodation for the thousands of construction workers, EDF this week announced it had scaled back many of its proposals after consulting with local people.

It includes moving the main construction site north away from residents in the villages of Shurton and Burton – "They actually gave us the grid reference line where they would like us to move the fence back to" – and promising more tree planting. Plans for accommodation, freight depots and permanent park and rides in nearby villages have been scrapped or downgraded.

"We listened very hard," Mr Mayson says, insisting the scaled back plans have left them "in a better place".

Much of the freight logistics and the park and ride have been shifted to the M5 junctions, "so we catch the traffic long before it reaches the town". Mr Mayson hails as "wonderful" that the "vast majority" of local people were "very supportive" about having a new nuclear power station on their doorstep.

"They recognise the need for new low carbon energy sources, nuclear has got a keen role to play in that. They were keen for the development to happen but clearly very worried about things being in their neighbourhood."

It is significant, of course, that the community to the west of Bridgwater is used to seeing Hinkley Point's grey and blue boxes on the horizon. There would likely be a different response if a brand new nuclear plant was to be dumped in Cornwall.

"People having lived and worked there for decades recognise the benefits it gives. Generally, they are well-paid jobs, it's a healthy lifestyle, and they are in pleasant rural parts of the country."

A recent study for EDF suggested the construction of Hinkley Point C will bring a £500 million pound boost to the South West economy, employing up to 5,000 people during the building process, with 900 permanent jobs created during the 60-year operation of the plant.

The plan is obviously not without its critics. The long-running Stop Hinkley campaign is vocal in its opposition, but according to Mr Mayson is "relatively small in terms of the number of responses we had".

Campaigners highlight the dangers to public health of nuclear technology. "These issues have been explored for a long time and all the health bodies have concluded that things like cancer clusters aren't linked to nuclear power stations."

Concern has also been raised about clean-up costs. Last month it emerged the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority faces a £4 billion funding shortfall over four years. Hinkley A is being decommissioned now, Hinkley B will follow after 2016.

Mr Mayson says he does not know anything about reports of a funding shortfall, but EDF like all energy firms is putting billions aside for clean-up costs later.

"Nuclear waste has been stored on site and at most nuclear sites in the UK quite safely for 50 years now. So it's not a problem. We know how to deal with it safely."

He also denies there is any "trade-off" between nuclear and green renewable energy like wind, wave or solar. EDF is, he says, "pushing as hard and as fast on both fronts as we can".

"We have got a genuine energy gap looming. The last government and this government recognise that.

"Coal and nuclear stations are scheduled to close in the next decade, a lot of them anyway. We have really got to get on and build these things, both renewables and nuclear. Anything that's low carbon basically."

In the meantime, EDF will "keep our options open" about extending the life of Hinkley B beyond 2016.

"We are keen to maximise the lifetime of the existing fleet."

He refuses to blame directly Labour for dragging their heels when in government, though their path to backing nuclear was dogged by dither and legal delay.

"Clearly it did take the last government to overturn its historical scepticism of nuclear. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. We are now getting on with it."