Britain announces 10 new nuclear plants

LONDON, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Britain will build 10 new nuclear power plants to supply up to 25 percent of the nation's electricity needs, the government's energy minister says.

Ed Miliband, Britain's energy and climate change secretary, announced Monday that the first new plant should be operational by 2018 despite fierce opposition from environmentalists and consumer groups, who warned that fuel bills would rise to pay for the massive building program, The Daily Telegraph reported.

In a major shift of emphasis for the Labor Party, Miliband said the new nuclear plants would be built on the sites of decommissioned or soon-to-close existing stations and that by 2025, one-quarter of the country's energy needs would come from nuclear power, up from the current 13 percent.

"Change is also needed for energy security," Miliband said. "In a world where our North Sea reserves are declining, a more diverse, low-carbon energy mix is a more secure energy mix, less vulnerable to fluctuations in the availability of any one fuel."

The Telegraph said the new nuclear plants would cost at least $8.3 billion each and would produce enough electricity to power a city the size of Manchester for 60 years.