Moratorium called on nuclear power stations

No more nuclear power stations will be built in Britain in the foreseeable future, the Government will announce.

Patricia Hewitt, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, is convinced that investing in nuclear power will detract from plans to increase spending on renewable energy such as wind and solar power.

The Government is also concerned about the controversy on reprocessing of nuclear waste. But Ms Hewitt will not impose a permanent block on the building of nuclear power stations.

Pro-nuclear colleagues, including Brian Wilson, the Energy minister, said the option of building more power stations in the long term should not be ruled out.

As part of an energy White Paper to be published in the next few weeks, Ms Hewitt is expected to announce new targets for using wind and wave power. She will also announce millions of pounds for renewable energy to encourage "green" new technology.

A report by Downing Street's environmental advisers warned yesterday that the Government could miss its own target for reducing global warming. It says a 20 per cent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2010 may fail.