Blair backs the nuclear option to deal with power crisis

LONDON, ENGLAND - A new generation of nuclear power stations will have to be built to meet energy needs and avoid dependence on foreign imports, Tony Blair told business leaders recently.

He pre-empted the government's own energy review, due by the end of July, by declaring that the replacement of existing nuclear power stations was now "back on the agenda with a vengeance''.

Mr. Blair said Britain faced the prospect of being largely reliant on foreign gas imports for its future energy needs and it would be a "dereliction of duty'' if he failed to take long-term decisions.

The Prime Minister regards giving the go-ahead for new reactors to replace the country's ageing nuclear power stations as one of the "legacy'' issues that will define the closing stages of his premiership.

It will be one of the most controversial decisions Mr. Blair has taken since coming to power nine years ago, though the government will seek to minimize opposition by placing the new reactors alongside existing nuclear power stations.

Mr. Blair has decided to put the nuclear issue on the agenda now in an attempt to demonstrate that he is in charge and still capable of taking major decisions despite pressure for him to step down in favour of Gordon Brown, the Chancellor.

A fierce public debate on the merits of nuclear power would distract attention from the government's recent difficulties. In the past week Mr Blair has taken on the judges and the human rights lobby and backed a petition in favour of continued medical research using animals.

Green campaigners last night accused him of being "hell-bent'' on building new reactors.

Downing Street said Mr Blair had received the "first cut'' of the energy review which set out the "stark'' facts facing the country - by 2025, if current policy was unchanged, there would be a "dramatic gap'' in Britain's targets to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the country would become "heavily dependent'' on gas.

Britain would move from being 80-90 per cent self-reliant in gas to 80-90 per cent dependent on imports, mostly from the Middle East, Africa and Russia.

"These facts put the replacement of nuclear power stations, a big push on renewables and a step change on energy efficiency, engaging both business and consumers, back on the agenda with a vengeance,'' Mr Blair told the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

He has been convinced for the past year that building new nuclear power stations is the only way to meet the country's energy needs and meet climate change targets.

Officials said there was not a "one club solution'' and an increase in renewable energy, including more windfarms, would not be enough to plug Britain's energy gap.

Britain has a dozen nuclear power stations producing around 20 per cent of the country's electricity supply. By 2020 this will have fallen to around five per cent if no new reactors are built, and by 2035 it will have disappeared altogether.

Mr. Blair made no mention about what the government will do with the radioactive waste from new nuclear power stations, though they are expected to produce less than the existing ones.

He told the CBI that the long-term decisions facing Britain needed to be taken now.

"Hardly a single difficult decision I have taken in government hasn't resulted in prediction of disaster, shrieks of outrage and a determined resistance,'' he said.

Mr. Brown - Mr. Blair's expected successor - supports a new generation of nuclear power stations provided the cost and waste issues are resolved.

In a recent Cabinet reshuffle, Margaret Beckett, a sceptic, was moved from the Environment Department to the Foreign Office. Her successor, David Miliband, has said that he has an "open mind'' on nuclear power.

John McDonnell, who leads a grouping of Left-wing Labour MPs, said Mr. Blair's attempt to "bounce'' the Government into a decision was an "act of desperation of a leader who knows his time is running out''.