British Prime Minister Tony Blair will say today that replacement of Britain's ageing nuclear power plants is firmly back on the agenda due to global warming and rising reliance on imported energy, his spokesman said.
The comments will be seen as a clear signal that the British government will back the building of new nuclear power plants when its review of future energy sources is finalised before the end of July.
Mr Blair, who has seen the first draft of the review, will tell business chiefs: "These facts put the replacement of nuclear power stations, a big push on renewables and a step change on energy efficiency, engaging both business and consumers, back on the agenda with a vengeance."
The draft of the energy review showed "stark facts", Mr Blair's spokesman said, reading from extracts of the speech.
All but one of Britain's ageing nuclear power plants are scheduled to close by the mid 2020s.
If current policy remained unchanged, Britain would fall dramatically behind its targets to slash harmful carbon dioxide emissions by 2025, Mr Blair will say. "We'll become heavily dependent on gas and at the same time move from being 80-90 percent self-reliant on gas to being 80-90 percent dependent on foreign imports, mostly from the Middle East, Africa and Russia," Blair will tell a dinner hosted by the Confederation of British Industry.
Mr Blair - whose popularity has slumped and who is under pressure from parts of his Labour Party to step down - is aware of deep-rooted opposition within Labour to more nuclear power.
But he will say: "If we don't take these long-term decisions now, we'll be committing a serious dereliction of our duty to the future of this country."