CBI urges ruling on nuclear power
November 21, 2005
Business leaders are calling on the government to reach a decision on the future of nuclear energy as concerns grow over future UK power supplies.
The CBI says energy requirements are now top of the business agenda as fuel costs rise and worries grow over gas supplies this winter.
Ministers are being urged to draw up a "coherent" policy within the next year.
Meanwhile, the Times says the prime minister is set to agree to the creation of new nuclear power stations.
Cost study
The CBI has stressed a firm decision on a new generation of nuclear stations must be included in any new policy.
It says one third of the UK's generating capacity would have to be replaced by 2020 and called on the government to commission a study into the cost of nuclear energy compared with alternatives sources of power.
"A decision on the future of nuclear power has been allowed to drift too long," said the CBI's director general Sir Digby Jones.
"Potential investors and the British public both deserve certainty."
Separately, the Engineering Employers' Federation (EEP) said the government should support the building of replacement nuclear power plants, claiming that it could be the most cost-effective form of energy.
'Greenhouse gasses'
The Times says Tony Blair's chief scientific adviser has urged him to "give the green light" to more power stations.
It reports that the prime minister feels new reactors are the only way to cut greenhouse gas emissions and meet energy needs.
And he is expected to push for planning procedures to be speeded-up to allow the first to be under construction within 10 years.
However, this could set him on collision course with environmental campaigners and his own party.
Downing Street declined to comment on the Times report ahead of an energy review which is due to be launched in the near future.
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