David King, the government's chief scientist, is to attempt to persuade a cabinet committee to support a new generation of nuclear power stations.

According to reports, professor King is said to be facing the combined opposition of Margaret Beckett, the environment secretary, Peter Hain at the Welsh Office, and John Prescott, the deputy prime minister, who chairs the committee.

Forum Response: Institute of Electrical Engineers

A spokesman for the IEE told ePolitix.com: "The IEE believes that, in the light of the current nuclear power station closure programme and the lead-time required to implement a new generation of reactor/generators, the nuclear option cannot just 'be kept open'.

"Failure to make a firm decision now to enable a new nuclear power station building programme in the UK will result in the industry contracting and eventually closing.

"Furthermore, the UK needs to maintain its in-house expertise in order to be a technically informed buyer/operator and to be able to perform inspection and de-commissioning functions, should the decision to build new nuclear power stations be made after the suggested five year moratorium.

"The UK government has demonstrated a firm commitment to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and nuclear generation can make a significant contribution to that target, as it is the only large scale 'zero emission' option which is controllable and not subject to unpredictable external factors.

"There is no technical reason why nuclear should not form part of the UK's energy mix and although the issue of waste is a concern, replacement 'new build' nuclear plant would only add about 10 per cent to the existing UK nuclear waste stockpile.

"Recent financial problems within the nuclear industry have been highlighted as an argument against the nuclear option. Yet the increased reliance on gas is likely to provide its own set of financial difficulties. Recently published figures from the DTI indicate that in the third quarter of 2002, gas' share of the electricity generating market rose to a record 43.3 per cent.

"However, the UK has finite resources of gas and once these are exhausted will rely heavily on imports. Significant investment in gas storage and supply infrastructure will be required, in addition, to secure transparent access to a liberalised EU gas market, if energy security is to be assured.

"Renewables are rightly acknowledged as an answer to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation and should be encouraged. However, the targets of 10 per cent by 2010 and 20 per cent by 2020 are ambitious and challenging when compared with the current figure of three per cent.

"Planning is a major challenge to wind generators with around two thirds of planning applications for wind farms failing or being withdrawn in the face of opposition. Intermittency of supply is another problem associated with renewables and continuous supply can only be guaranteed with the provision of standby back up from traditional generating plant. These are sound technical solutions, but uncertainty exists because it is not clear how the cost of the standby plant would be met.

"A further problem for the renewables cause is the issue of connection to the distribution systems for smaller generators. The networks have been designed to operate as largely passive systems and the connection of small generators will have major implications on the way the networks are developed and subsequently managed.

"The IEE believes that the creation of a level playing field is of paramount importance and to enable this, all of the external costs associated with the generation of electricity should be 'internalised'. The current arrangements distort the balance between fossil fuels, renewables, CHP and nuclear and threaten the UK's ability to meet its environmental targets at minimum cost.

"Once this situation has been addressed and a level playing field created, market forces can be left to determine what the UK 'energy mix' should be."

Forum Response: Powergen

A spokesman for Powergen told ePolitix.com: "Powergen recognises the need for fuel diversity within the UK."