WHAT SHOULD BRITAIN DO ABOUT NUCLEAR POWER?

The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, addressed the Confederate of British Industry Conference on 29th November, 2005 and announced a wide-ranging review of the country's energy policy. He admitted that Britain is likely to have to decommission coal and nuclear plants that together generate over 30% of today's electricity supply. The Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks, will be in the lead and will aim to publish a new energy policy statement early in the summer of 2006, which will address the issue of whether we should develop a new generation of nuclear power stations. This was a great surprise because the Labour Government had seen no need to invest in a new nuclear plant since it came to power in 1997.