Nuclear blueprint is unveiled

ELECTRICITY generator British Energy has set up a task force with British Nuclear Fuels to plan nine new reactors. They would replace BE's present plants at a cost of £700m each.

The 20-year replacement programme would be one of the biggest infrastructure projects ever undertaken in the UK, and would create 5,000 manufacturing jobs.

Robin Jeffrey, British Energy chief executive, said: 'We have a very strong case to make.' The nuclear lobby argues that it is a secure way to meet electricity needs without emitting 'global warming' gases.

It is encouraged by positive noises from the House of Lords and the Government's energy review. But there is bound to be strong opposition from environmentalists worried about accidents or terrorist attacks at BE's power stations and BNFL's Sellafield reprocessing plant.

The two firms will spend a year assessing the costs and risks of building BNFL's Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design at a time when wholesale electricity prices are low.

The first of BE's eight UK nuclear stations - Hunterston B in Scotland, and Hinkley B in Somerset - will be decommissioned in 2011. BE is lobbying the Government to take back £4bn liabilities, run up when it was state-owned. It also wants to be let off the climate change levy.