London (Platts)--4Jul2007

The UK would be foolish to base its energy security on "two or three
regions in the world" and it must pursue construction of "new nuclear power
stations," UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday during prime
minister's questions in the House of Commons.

     Brown has supported ex-PM Tony Blair's call for a new fleet of nuclear
power stations to replace aging reactors in the UK, but this was his first
statement on the issue as premier. He was answering a question from Liberal
Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, who called on the government to reject
Blair's pro-nuclear policy as part of Brown's agenda for change.

     Brown refused to do this, saying: "if we have learned anything from the
last year or so, it is that it would be wrong to base our energy security
around one or two regions in the world, that we must continue with nuclear
power and that we must build new nuclear power stations."