UK govt backs nuclear power in energy plan

The British government made clear today that it wants nuclear power to remain part of the UK’s energy mix, sparking a fresh row with environmental campaigners.

Britain's Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling said it would be a “profound mistake” to rule out building new nuclear power stations in efforts to secure power supplies.

The minister, who will publish an Energy White Paper later today, warned that power supplies could be disrupted on very hot or very cold days by the year 2017 unless action is taken now.

He stressed the importance of energy conservation but admitted he had changed his mind about the need for new nuclear power plants, which he now supported.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Darling said the UK could not continue putting more and more carbon into the atmosphere.

He said ways had to be found to generate secure reliable supplies of energy without contributing to climate change.

“We must reduce the amount of energy we use. I will be setting out proposals on how we are going to do that.”

Mr Darling countered criticisms about the level of grants available for home insulation, maintaining that money is available for individuals to make their homes more energy-efficient.

But he said the government wanted to incentivise the main energy companies to do more to encourage people to adopt energy-efficient measures.