Promote nuclear power, Blair told

Britain's largest manufacturing union has backed reviving the country's mothballed nuclear power programme.

Britain's largest manufacturing union backed reviving the country's mothballed nuclear power programme Monday, saying the technology should be promoted to stave off a "mounting energy crisis".

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Derek Simpson, general secretary of Amicus, said urgent action was needed about Britain's future energy supplies because successive governments of all colours had "shied away" from addressing the problem.

Prime Minister Tony Blair last year announced a wide-ranging review of the country's energy needs, which is expected to recommend building new nuclear plants plus an expansion of renewable energy like wind power.

Simpson said: "The debate on the energy crisis is in limbo and we need urgent action or Britain will face the prospect of blackouts and soaring utility bills over the next five years.

"The nation's energy needs will be hostage to politically unstable states unless the government's energy policy promotes clean coal technology and new nuclear power build."

Amicus echoed long-standing calls from captains of British industry that companies faced a growing threat to productivity from gas shortages and spiralling energy costs.

"As a nation, we are hostage to the supply of gas from politically unstable countries to heat our homes and power our factories," Simpson added.

Britain has about a dozen nuclear power stations, most of them built in the 1960s and 1970s, providing about 25 percent of the country's electricity, compared with natural gas which provides about 40 percent.