The public now have a month to comment on the proposed sites before a nuclear planning consultation is launched later this year.

The sites are Hartlepool, Heysham, Dungeness, Sellafield, Kirksanton, Braystones, Bradwell, Wylfa Peninsula, Oldbury, Hinkley Point and Sizewell.

Once the month long public comment period finishes information from it will be used alongside the advice of regulators and other specialists to decide on the final sites.

Sites which are judged to be potentially suitable will be included in the draft National Policy Statement (NPS) on nuclear power which will be published later this year for public consultation.

Ed Miliband, the secretary of state for department of energy and climate change, said: “This is another important step towards a new generation of nuclear power stations.

“I want to listen to what people have to say about these nominations and I encourage people to log-on to our website, read the information and let us have their comments.

“Nuclear power is part of the low carbon future for Britain, it also has the potential to offer thousands of jobs to the UK and multi-million pound opportunities to British businesses”.

Luke Walsh

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