Energy review will consider nuclear

As anticipated in the Second Annual Report on the Implementation of the Energy White Paper, published in July 2005, and later indicated in the keynote address to the Labour Party Conference in September this year, new nuclear generation is now to be considered. The Prime Minister formally announced the awaited new Energy Review, which will include consideration of new nuclear build, at a Confederation of British Industry conference in London on November 29. The Prime Minister added that the UK’s energy policy was "back on the agenda with a vengeance".

The Energy Review will be headed by the Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks.

The Government will therefore be publishing a ‘Policy Statement’ on the Energy Review in the summer of 2006, including the issue of whether to facilitate the development of a new generation of nuclear power stations to replace those currently in the process of being de-commissioned.