The comments by Malcolm Wicks follow a call last week by Prime Minister Tony Blair for Britain to consider "all options", including nuclear power, to try to tackle global warming.

Wicks, who is heading a cross-government departmental review into energy policy, told The Observer newspaper that he believed the country had become increasingly open-minded on the issue.

"I feel that the issue is much more open. There always seem to be those who will be dead opposed -- the history, the linkages to nuclear weapons," Wicks, who said he was personally uncertain about nuclear power, told the paper.

Asked whether opinion had shifted since a government document in 2003 which assessed the economic case for nuclear power and concluded it was an "unattractive" option, Wicks agreed.

"I do feel among many of my parliamentary colleagues and in public opinion there is more open-mindedness. There are hearts and minds to be won," he said.

Only about 20 percent of Britain's electricity is produced by nuclear generation, coming mainly from elderly reactors built in the 1960s or 70s.

In contrast, neighbouring France gets 80 percent of its power from nuclear fuel, with many other European nations also far more reliant on the source than Britain.

Also Sunday, Wicks's immediate government boss, Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson, warned that a decision had to be taken quickly, promising that the findings of the nuclear review would be published next year.

"What I am absolutely sure about is that we have to make a decision pretty soon if we are going to have nuclear new-build," he told BBC television.

"Because all of our nuclear power stations will be retired over the next 20, 25 years, we have to make a decision now whether to replace them," he argued.

"What we really need is to have a proper mature debate about this issue."

For decades, Britain relied largely on coal for electricity, although much of this has been replaced in recent years by natural gas, which now accounts for 40 percent of all power generated.

But now Britain's North Sea gas reserves are also running down, while the threat of global warming -- much of it blamed on the effect of burning fossil fuels -- has prompted the government to review its energy policy.

"Global warming is too serious for the world any longer to ignore its danger or split into opposing factions on it," Blair told the annual conference of his ruling Labour Party last week.

All developed nations must consider ways to grow in a sustainable way, "and that means an assessment of all options, including civil nuclear power", he said.

Related Links
SpaceDaily
Search SpaceDaily
Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express