Britain to build 10 new nuclear plants

Goal is to replace aging reactors while reducing emissions

Anthony Faiola / Washington Post

London -- The British government on Monday unveiled plans to launch one of the world's most ambitious expansions of nuclear power capacity, calling for the construction of 10 new plants in the coming years to help meet energy demands in the era of global warming.

After years of resisting construction of new nuclear plants, the British plan underscored how nations around the world are scrambling to find ways to generate more energy while also slashing the emissions that cause climate change. To do that, nations including the United States are considering more reliance on nuclear power, which, while generating radioactive waste, produces nearly zero carbon emissions.

To keep the lights on in Britain while meeting strict goals to slash emissions, the government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown identified 10 sites for new nuclear plants, with the first expected to come online by 2018. Many are envisioned to replace aging nuclear power plants to be decommissioned in coming years.

"The threat of climate change means we need to make a transition from a system that relies heavily on high-carbon fossil fuels to a radically different system that includes nuclear, renewable and clean-coal power," Ed Miliband, Britain's Energy and Climate Secretary, told Parliament on Monday.

As part of the plan, Miliband said the government would forbid construction of coal-fired power plants without carbon-capture technology.