After 500,000 homes are plunged into darkness, Brown prepares to go nuclear

The Prime Minister said that with oil prices soaring, it was time to be 'more ambitious' on a new generation of nuclear power stations.

His comments came amid claims that Britain faces the danger of repeated blackouts as crumbling power stations suffer a series of failures.

Yesterday, thousands of people were still suffering from the effects of the power blackout.

Atom power: New reactors are likely to be built at existing nuclear sites such as Sellafield, above

On Tuesday, lights dimmed in millions of home and hundreds of thousands of people lost power completely as seven generating units at other power stations broke down too.

When the Hunterston nuclear power reactor in Scotland failed yesterday it meant ten of British Energy's 16 nuclear generation units were out of service either for maintenance or through faults.

Speaking yesterday Mr Brown said: 'We want to do more to diversify our supply of energy and that's why I think we are pretty clear that we will have to do more than simply replace existing nuclear capability in Britain,' he said

'We will be more ambitious for our plans for nuclear in the future.'

The scale of the Government's plans will set it on a collision course with green campaigners and Left-wing Labour MPs. Both are opposed to the move.

New atomic stations will offer no quick fix for the looming energy crisis, because reactors take at least ten years to construct.

The power plants are most likely to be built on existing nuclear sites which are due to be decommissioned within the next couple of decades.

Ministers have identified Hinkley Point, Sizewell, Dungeness and Bradwell, all sites of existing plants, as the most suitable locations.

But the Government is now 'open' as to whether more than one reactor could be built on each site, or whether entirely new sites might be needed.

Ministers have been persuaded that nuclear power is a cleaner and greener alternative to burning gas, coal and oil.

A senior Downing Street source said recent power blackouts and the soaring cost of oil 'make the case for investment in new nuclear power stations all the stronger'.

However, major doubts remain over how Britain will deal with the radioactive waste.

Energy Secretary John Hutton has promised taxpayers will be protected from the vast cost of decommissioning the material.

But groups such as Greenpeace says consumers will have to pay much of the cost of clean-up because energy generators will pass on a large part of what they spend through higher bills.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has said the total charge will be £3billion over 20 years  -  up from an estimate just two years ago of £56billion.

Yesterday there were claims that the cost is set to rise yet further. A senior official at the authority told the BBC the bill would rise by further billions. Jim Morse, a senior director at the authority, said of the projected cost: 'It's a high probability that in the short term it will undoubtedly go up.

Asked if the cost increases could run into billions of pounds, Mr Morse said: 'I'm sure it'll be some billions, I really don't know.'

A spokesman for the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform suggested that the government accepted that the cost of decommissioning would rise further.

'As the NDA continues its work to establish  -  for the first time  -  the scale of the challenge, the assessment of the costs involved will naturally need adjusting,' he said.
The spokesman added that the next generation of nuclear power stations would produce less waste and that power generators would have to cover the costs.

Robin Oakley, head of Greenpeace's climate and energy campaign, said: 'This looks like nothing more than a clumsy attempt by Brown to talk up British Energy's share price.

'The nuclear industry has had a woeful 24 hours that must be shaking confidence in this outdated technology.

'Unless Brown is about to appoint an alchemist to the Cabinet, nuclear power will do nothing to address any concerns over oil.'