LONDON, March 21 (UPI) -- Britain may scale back its nuclear ambitions as Japan copes with a radioactive disaster following the March 11 earthquake, the energy minister said.
Gray smoke rose Monday from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. A magnitude-9 quake rocked Japan's north March 11, crippling the country's nuclear facilities and sending radiation fears along the Pacific Coast.
British Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said the troubles with Japan's nuclear power sector have cast a "shadow" over the nuclear power industry.
London has drawn up plans to build new nuclear reactors in the country as part of a pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent of 1990s levels by 2050.
Huhne was quoted by The Daily Telegraph newspaper in London as saying he wasn't ruling out nuclear power as part of the energy mix but said the Japanese disaster warranted a closer look at other forms of energy.
"We can do the 80 percent reduction in emissions by 2050 without new nuclear but it will require a big effort on carbon capture and storage and renewables," he said.
