Gordon Brown wants to build 'at least' 8 nuclear power stations

But No10 sources indicated the Prime Minister thinks there should be 'no upper limit' on the number of such stations.

Mr Brown also claims the North Sea could become 'the Gulf of the future' for wind power thanks to the development of thousands of offshore turbines.

The Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station in Suffolk: It could be one of the sites for a new plant

Sources say ministers have identified Hinkley Point, Sizewell, Dungeness and Bradwell, all sites of existing plants, as the most suitable places for new atomic energy stations. The first should be generating electricity by 2017.

The scale of the Government's nuclear ambitions will horrify green campaigners and Leftwing Labour MPs, who are fiercely opposed.

The Government has introduced controversial planning reforms that allow approval for plants to be fast-tracked by a new quango.

Britain has ten nuclear power stations, generating a total of 10gigawatts of electricity, around 19 per cent of Britain's needs.

By 2023, all but one - Sizewell B - will be obsolete, which could trigger an energy crisis at the same time as a third of our coal and oil-fired power stations become effectively outlawed by environmental legislation.

The new generation of medium-sized nuclear reactors will generate 1.2gigawatts each, meaning at least eight will be required to match existing output.

Following applications by the major energy firms, the Government will confirm the location of all proposed new sites in 2010.

Speaking in Paris yesterday, Mr Brown said: 'We need a renaissance of nuclear power.

'Britain is moving quickly to replace its ageing nuclear power stations. Around the world I see renewed interest in this technology as countries contemplate the alternative - oil dependence and unchecked climate change.'

But critics say huge doubts remain over how Britain will deal with the radioactive waste.

Energy Secretary John Hutton has promised taxpayers will be protected from the cost of decommissioning the waste, which the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority says will be £73billion over 100 years.

Environmental groups say consumers will have to pay much of it through their energy bills.