BRITAIN faces power cuts and blackouts within a decade unless a new generation of power stations is built, senior MPs warned yesterday.

The looming energy crisis is so serious that there is no time to wait for better nuclear reactors to be constructed, they said.

Instead they proposed urgent investment in a fleet of gas-fired power stations.

But consumers will have to pay more for electricity in the future and use less of it, the cross-party Committee warned.

The findings are a blow to Tony Blair who is thought to be on the verge of backing a return to nuclear power.

It has been seen as the only way of giving Britain the energy it needs while reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

But the MPs said nuclear power stations would take too long to come into service and they would be vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

Almost a quarter of the country's nuclear electricitygenerating capacity is due to be decommissioned by 2016 but the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee concluded that any new nuclear plant would not be up and running until 2017.

Following the Prime Minister's lead would create a ' generating gap' which will mean blackouts for British consumers, they said.

'Over the next nine years, therefore, very substantial investment in new generating capacity and energy efficiency will be required if the lights are to stay on even in the absence of demand growth,' their report says.

The black hole in energy output could be plugged with an 'extensive programme' of gasfired power stations and greater investment in renewable energy sources such as wind power, the MPs added.

With the right investment, renewable energy sources could deliver up to a fifth of the country's electricity by 2020, the Committee predicted.

The Government is committed to a target of 10 per cent of output from renewables by The MPs said building more gas-fired power stations would not add to environmental pollution, as cleaner technology could help reduce emissions.

But although homeowners have seen gas prices rise by 65 per cent over the last year, the Committee warned the cost of energy is bound to increase.

'The Government should accept that the shift to a sustainable energy strategy cannot be based on maintaining low energy prices.

'We cannot emphasise enough that reducing demand is also a vital component on the path to a sustainable energy strategy.

'We urge the Government to consider setting absolute targets for reductions in demand as a way of stimulating the growth of energy efficiency.' Yesterday Committee chairman-2010.

and Tory MP Tim Yeo said rationing 'is not the desirable outcome', but he urged ministers to do more to persuade people to save energy.

'The Government must be far more imaginative and radical in pursuing the twin goals of the 2003 Energy White Paper energy efficiency and renewables.' Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks is leading the Government's energy review, which will report back later this year.

He accused the committee of 'over- egging' the threat of electricity shortages.

But he admitted: 'Cleaner energy will be more expensive and I think that is a price we are going to have to pay if we are going to play our role in saving the planet.' Greenpeace said the report was 'significant and timely'.

t.shipman@dailymail.co.uk

NUCLEAR power has been a part of British energy for 40 years.

The country's first civil nuclear power station was opened by the Queen at Calder Hall in Cumbria under the slogan 'Atoms for Peace' in 1956.

It was the first nuclear power plant in the world to produce electricity.

Nuclear power has always been associated with controversy. Britain's worst nuclear accident occurred a year later during a fire at what was then called Windscale.

Radiation was blown southeast, across most of England.

In 1981 the site's name was changed to Sellafield.

There are 16 nuclear power plants in the country. Half are operated by British Nuclear Fuels and the rest by British Energy.

All power stations run by BNFL will close by 2010 and by British Energy by 2023.

No nuclear power station has been built in Britain for more than ten years.

Most reactors are scheduled to close in the next 20. One plant, Sizewell B in Suffolk, will run until 2035.

Nuclear power stations produce about a quarter of our electricity.

Many are too old to operate efficiently and safely and are being closed down.

By 2023 only 4 per cent of our electricity will come from nuclear power.