Four new reactors on the way in nuclear deal

The South-East is set to bear the brunt of a new fleet of nuclear power stations as the Government today gave the green light to reactors in Kent, Essex and Suffolk.

Gordon Brown gave his seal of approval to a £12.5 billion takeover of the UK's nuclear generation company British Energy by the French statebacked giant EDF in league with British Gas group Centrica.

As part of that deal it was announced that the new company will build two new nuclear reactors. One will be at Sizewell in Suffolk, the site of the last nuclear power station built in the Nineties, and the other at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

It was also confirmed that EDF will have permission to sell land to rival companies like E.On or its fellow German company, RWE, the company that owns npower, so that they can build new reactors on sites that include Bradwell in south Essex and at Dungeness in Kent.

The project, which could deliver new working reactors by 2017, is likely to cost more than £20 billion but will also create thousands of construction jobs.

"New nuclear is becoming a reality," said Mr Brown whose brother Andrew is a senior director at EDF.

"This deal is good for the taxpayer and a significant step towards the construction of a new generation of nuclear stations to power the country."

Despite the opposition which will come from environmental groups and from locals in the areas affected, the Prime Minister said nuclear power will address many problems in the looming UK energy crisis.

"Nuclear is clean, secure and affordable,"-he said. "Its expansion is crucial for Britain's long-term energy security as we reduce our oil dependence and move towards a low carbon future."

Business Secretary John Hutton denied the Government was selling the country's energy industry to foreign raiders.

"EDF's bid to buy British Energy would be one of the largest foreign direct investments ever made in Britain and demonstrates the attractiveness of the UK market to the private sector.

"Today is just the start. EDF's plans to build four new nuclear reactors will also create a wide range of jobs and wealth of opportunities for Britain's manufacturers.

"Our ambition is to have more than one nuclear operator and so to accelerate the building of new nuclear power stations," said Mr Hutton.

"There are strong signals of an appetite for this from the power industry and today's announcement mean a number of sites could be made available for others to play a part."