Ministers back new nuclear plants

By Adrian Croft

LONDON (Reuters) - Ministers backed a new generation of nuclear power stations at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.

Asked if any minister had spoken in opposition when the cabinet discussed whether to give the green light to new nuclear plants, the spokeswoman said: "Not that I'm aware of."

Nuclear and energy issues had been the main items on the agenda at Tuesday's cabinet meeting and there had been a "very good discussion," the spokeswoman said.

Her comments reinforced expectations that Business Secretary John Hutton will give the go-ahead to new nuclear power stations when he makes an eagerly awaited statement on energy policy to parliament on Thursday.

Britain's decision will be closely watched by other governments and by nuclear operators which say they could have new British plants running by 2017.

Environmental campaigners and the Liberal Democrats attacked the government's support for new plants.

"This is a flawed decision based on a sham consultation," the party's environment spokesman Steve Webb.

"There is a real risk that focusing on new nuclear plants will undermine attempts to find a cleaner, greener, more sustainable and secure solution," he said in a statement.