According John Hutton, the business secretary, nuclear will provide Britain with "clean, secure and affordable" energy.

Hutton said nuclear power had provided "safe and secure supplies of electricity for half a century" and the government was planning to encourage the private sector to build more, the Guardian reported.

The first of the new wave of nuclear plants would be built "well before 2020," Hutton said, and they will not be subsidized by the government.

"The government believes that the new nuclear power stations should have a role to play in this country's future energy mix alongside other low-carbon sources," Hutton said.

The approval comes at the same time as a new energy bill and a nuclear white paper. The bill includes provisions to ensure developers building new nuclear power stations have enough funds to cover the waste and decommissioning costs.

The government will also set up a new advisory body, the Nuclear Liabilities Financing Assurance Board, to monitor the operators.