Atomic power needed to fight global warming: Britain

Britain must build new nuclear power plants, get more electricity from wind and waves and curb energy use to counter global warming and safeguard power supplies, Trade Minister Alistair Darling said on Tuesday.
He also stressed the need to reduce rising dependence on imported oil and gas as supplies from the North Sea dwindle. "We face two big challenges, climate change and the need to provide secure cleaner energy at affordable prices," Darling told parliament, presenting an eagerly-awaited review of Britain's energy policy.
"Our analysis suggests that, alongside other low carbon generating options, a new generation of nuclear power stations could make a contribution to reducing carbon emissions and reducing our reliance on imported energy," he added.
Nuclear power accounts for 20 percent of Britain's electricity, but that is due to slump to just 6 percent as all but one of the ageing plants closes within 20 years.
The decision to back a new fleet of nuclear power plants will boost the global nuclear industry as it starts to recover from the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant.
Nuclear power, seen by some as a weapon in the fight against global warming because it emits no climate changing carbon gases, and energy security will also dominate the agenda at this weekend's summit in Russia of the Group of Eight rich nations.
But nuclear power is politically divisive, particularly within Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party. Environmentalists say it is too dangerous to consider.
Darling said renewable energy sources, that supply only 4 percent of Britain's electricity, should do far more but would not be able to plug the 30 percent gap between supply and demand as old nuclear and coal plants close.
"The proportion of electricity generated by renewables needs to increase substantially," Darling said, announcing a range of measures to support low carbon power sources including so-called clean coal technology
The government wants power companies to get more of their supplies from renewables and to boost local generation such as rooftop wind turbines and solar panels.
It also wants to streamline the planning process to avoid lengthy and costly delays in constructing renewable energy plants such as wind farms.
The government also has a dilemma because it has repeatedly ruled out any public subsidies for new nuclear power stations in view of the 70 billion pounds it will cost to clean up the lethal waste from the existing reactors.