10 January 2008
The Prime Minister has explained the Government’s decision to open the way for more nuclear power generation in the UK.
Speaking to reporters in Downing Street, the PM said the future of Britain’s energy supplies needed to be secured and made more affordable in light of rising oil prices. The climate change debate had also "informed the decision" to explore the nuclear option, he added.
The PM said:
"I said that this would be the year when we made the right long-term decisions for the future of the country and one of these decisions is that we have safe, secure energy. That is why today we are inviting companies to express an interest in building a new generation of power stations to replace the existing ones.
"We want Britain to be more secure in its energy supply. Even with all these renewable sources that we can bring to bear, we will still have a need for nuclear power."
The Government’s decision was announced in Parliament today with the launch of a White Paper on Nuclear Energy by Business Secretary John Hutton. The minister told MPs that nuclear power stations "should have a role to play in this country’s future energy mix" and that nuclear power would help Britain meet the "twin challenges" of securing energy supplies and tackling climate change.
He said:
"Analysis of future gas and carbon price scenarios show that nuclear is affordable and provides one of the cheapest electricity options available to reduce our carbon emissions."
Mr Hutton said that suitable sites for plants would be identified by next year, with the first new nuclear power station expected to be completed before 2020.
Image copyright: Reuters
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