Business Secretary John Hutton told parliament that the government firmly believed new nuclear power stations should "have a role to play" in the country's future energy mix alongside other low carbon sources.

"It is in the public interest to allow energy companies the option of investing in new nuclear power stations and that we should therefore take the active steps necessary to facilitate this," Hutton said.

"Set against the challenges of climate change and security of supply, the evidence in support of new nuclear power stations is compelling," he added.

Outlining the government's plans, Hutton invited energy companies to build and operate an unspecified number of plants, saying that replacing Britain's 10 existing plants was in the country's "vital long-term interests".

The long-awaited announcement, which had been widely trailed, was expected but has been criticised by environmental campaigners, who have not ruled out legal action against the government's public consultation process.

They have also called for more investment in renewable energy sources, like wind, tidal and wave power, and questioned whether atomic energy can help Britain meet its targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Hutton accepted that new nuclear power stations on their own would not help secure Britain's future energy supplies and help tackle climate change, but argued that they would when combined with the use of other, more sustainable sources.

He told lawmakers nuclear power had been a "tried and tested, safe and secure form of low carbon technology" for more than 50 years, and was more efficient and cost-effective than traditional coal-fired power stations.

Safety would be the government's top priority, he added.

Currently, about 19 percent of Britain's electricity supplies are provided by nuclear power but most of the country's reactors will be decommissioned by 2023.

In his statement, Hutton said it would be wrong to set a target for the amount of electricity to be produced by nuclear or any other low-carbon energy source.

And he made no mention of the possible cost of the scheme, which recent media reports have suggested could be as high as 12 billion pounds (16 billion euros, 24 billion dollars) for six reactors.

But he said the costs for developing, building, operating and disposing of nuclear waste would be met by energy companies, not the taxpayer. He hoped the first plant could be up and running by 2020.

About 16 percent of the world's electricity comes from nuclear power. In the European Union, the figure is 30 percent, rising to 75 percent in France and 55 percent in Belgium.

About 440 nuclear reactors are operational, with a further 28 under construction and another 62 planned.