Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has approved eight out of 11 proposed nuclear new-build sites.
But the Liberal Democrat minister said the Government would not support the £30bn Severn Barrage scheme, as was widely expected.
The eight nuclear sites, which must build new plants by 2025, are:
- Bradwell, Essex
- Hartlepool, Borough of Hartlepool
- Heysham, Lancashire
- Hinkley Point, Somerset
- Oldbury, South Gloucestershire
- Sellafield, Cumbria
- Sizewell, Suffolk
- Wylfa, Isle of Anglesey
Proposed sites at Dungeness in Kent plus Braystones and Kirksanton in Cumbria were rejected until 2025 due to concerns about environmental impact.
Westinghouse’s AP1000 and Areva’s EPR have been selected as the two approved reactor designs.
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Huhne confirmed there would be no Government subsidy for new nuclear power and that it expects developers to pay clean-up costs.
He said: “I’m fed up with the stand-off between advocates of renewables and of nuclear which means we have neither.
“We urgently need investment in new and diverse energy sources to power the UK. We’ll need renewables, new nuclear, fossil fuels with CCS, and the cables to hook them all up to the Grid as a large slice of our current generating capacity shuts down. The market needs certainty to make this investment happen, and we are determined to clear every obstacle in the way of this programme.
“So today we are setting out our energy need which will help guide the planning process, so that if sound proposals come forward in sensible places, they will not face unnecessary hold-ups. And I am making clear that new nuclear will be free to contribute as much as possible with the onus on developers to pay for the clean-up”.
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