BRITAIN'S planning system must be overhauled to speed up the construction of new nuclear plants to prevent the country running out of electricity, the boss of the country's biggest nuclear generator has warned.

Bill Coley, chief executive of British Energy, described the system currently in place - which would govern the construction of the next generation of nuclear power stations should the government decide this is the best way of meeting the country's future energy needs - as "laborious".

He said energy companies are waiting until the system is modernised before agreeing to invest the billions of pounds required to overhaul the UK's fleet of ageing nuclear plants.

In an energy review, the government concluded last month that nuclear would have a major part to play meeting the country's future energy needs but stopped short of providing specific details.

But Coley said more had to be done to reduce the risk for the private sector before this happens. "If you are going to make an investment, you need a degree of certainty as to how long it will take to build [the nuclear plant]," he said. "The permitting and planning process is slow.

"I think you can have public input and certainly you should not be cavalier about public input and perception. By the same token, the country needs to do something quickly, because my concern is that we are not going to have the energy available that the country needs. Generation capacity is declining but demand continues to grow."

Coley said he was hopeful that the issue would be partially clarified when the government produces its next white paper on energy, due next year.

BE, which generates around one-fifth of the UK's electricity, operates eight nuclear power stations, including two in Scotland - Torness in East Lothian and Hunterston B in Ayrshire - and one coal- fired plant at Eggborough in Yorkshire.

The company's ageing fleet is gradually being decommissioned. Nuclear power accounts for almost a fifth of the UK's electricity but this is likely to drop to just 6 per cent by 2020 as plants gradually go out of service.

Coley said planning systems governing new-build nuclear power stations used elsewhere in the world could be utilised in the UK. These include the government pre-licensing sites to be used for generation and giving fast-track planning permission for plants that meet generic, pre-agreed designs.

Coley said BE's Sizewell B station in Suffolk took seven years to build, and suggested that timescale could be reduced to around four- and-a-half years for the next generation of plants if changes were made.

A spokesperson for the Department of Trade and Industry said: "The UK needs a planning framework for energy projects that takes account of both local and national issues, reaches timely decisions and provides more certainty of the duration of the process, while allowing the public to participate properly in the system."

Coley also declined to rule out working with European power groups such as France's EDF and Germany's E.On in new-build nuclear power stations. Foreign operators are known to be interested in playing a part in the UK's new nuclear programme, which is expected be one of the biggest in the world.