Stop bickering about energy, minister tells rival camps

ENERGY Secretary Chris Huhne today defied Liberal Democrat activists to back a new generation of nuclear power stations.

The Cabinet minister called for a truce between the different camps of campaigners for nuclear and renewable energy. "I'm fed up with the stand-off between advocates of renewables and of nuclear, which means we have neither," he said.

"We urgently need investment in new and diverse energy sources. We'll need renewables, new nuclear, fossil fuels with CCS [carbon capture and storage], and the cables to hook them all up to the grid as a large slice of our current generating capacity shuts down."

Anti-nuclear protesters say the technology is too dangerous and costly while renewable energy sceptics argue it will not provide enough supplies for the country's future needs.

He said eight sites were potentially suitable for new nuclear power stations by 2025. They are Bradwell, Essex; Hartlepool; Heysham, Lancashire; Hinkley Point, Somerset; Oldbury, Gloucestershire; Sellafield, Cumbria; Sizewell, Suffolk; Wylfa, Anglesey.