Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday Britain must look at a new generation of nuclear power stations to guarantee its future energy supplies. Blair reopened the debate over nuclear power in an opinion piece in The Times newspaper before the publication of a new government energy strategy report on Wednesday. The report is expected to also encourage wind and solar power. «It is only right that we consider how nuclear power can help to underpin the security of our energy supply without increasing our reliance on fossil fuels,» Blair wrote in The Times. «We can meet our carbon dioxide emissions targets, but only if we are willing to think ahead and take tough decisions over new wind farms _ and give serious consideration to nuclear power,» Blair said. Trade and Industry Minister Alistair Darling said Britain must decide on an energy strategy now or risk having power supplies be disrupted on very hot or very cold days by the year 2017, the Associated Press reported. Britain's 23 nuclear power stations supply around 20 percent of the country's electricity. All but one is due to close by 2023. Darling has said fewer nuclear plants will be needed in the future because the new plants would be more efficient.
