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Lib Dem vote back nuclear power plants Lib Dem vote backs nuclear power plants
(35 minutes later)
Liberal Democrats have voted to support the building of a new generation of nuclear power plants - a policy U-turn which marks an important victory for the Party's leadership.Liberal Democrats have voted to support the building of a new generation of nuclear power plants - a policy U-turn which marks an important victory for the Party's leadership.
Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey had urged the Lib Dem conference, in Glasgow, to drop their traditional opposition to nuclear energy. Party members at the Glasgow conference voted 230 to 183 to support nuclear power in "limited" circumstances.
Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey earlier warned the Party not backing nuclear would be "reckless".
He said he had changed his mind because of climate change.He said he had changed his mind because of climate change.
Mr Davey said nuclear was a "genuinely low carbon source of electricity". The motion also backed continued operations at existing nuclear power stations until the end of their working lives.
He said climate change posed a real and massive danger to the planet and warned Liberal Democrats that it would look reckless if they ruled out nuclear as an option. Mr Davey said climate change posed a real and massive danger to the planet and warned Liberal Democrats the Party would look reckless if they ruled out nuclear - a "genuinely low carbon source of electricity" - as an option.
Activists at the conference were asked to accept that nuclear power could play a "limited" role in the UK's energy supply chain. There were also concerns about the cost of new nuclear power stations but Mr Davey told the conference he would not allow the price of projects to get out of control.
Earlier, campaigners had urged Lib Dems to reject the motion, calling it a "crunch day" for the party.
Craig Bennett, of Friends of the Earth, said: "The battle is on to try to restore the party's green credibility - members must fight to get the Liberal Democrats to champion the environment."
But Mr Davey told delegates: "When I have listened to pro-nuclear Liberal Democrats over the years, there is one argument I have found increasingly difficult to answer and that is the climate change argument.
"We are going to need vast amounts of low-carbon electricity to tackle climate change. Why? Because if our carbon capture and storage plans don't work, we may have to replace all fossil fuels for electricity generation, that is about 60% of all generation.
"If we do that without nuclear, you will need to replace about 85% of electricity generation. That's huge."
Mr Davey said he was absolutely determined not to sign any contract for new nuclear power stations which relied on public subsidy, adding: "New nuclear must be cost-competitive. We will not repeat the history of mistakes on nuclear."