"We must -- and we will -- take the right long-term decisions to invest for the next generation of sustainable and secure energy supplies," Brown told business chiefs gathered in London.

"We have said that new nuclear power stations potentially have a role to play in tackling climate change and improving energy security.

"And having concluded the full public consultation we will announce our final decision early in the New Year," he told delegates at the annual conference of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

In May, the British government outlined its plans for meeting future energy needs, stressing that nuclear power would play a central role despite opposition from environmental pressure groups.

Many of Britain's nuclear power stations were built in the 1960s and 1970s, generating about 25 percent of the country's electricity.

Ministers want to increase the amount of energy from low carbon sources by encouraging more nuclear power and overseeing a three-fold increase in energy generated from renewable sources -- from five to 15 percent -- by 2015.

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