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It also gave the green light for a new generation of nuclear power stations, of which Hinkley was believed to be a favoured site.

The construction of a Point C would cost around £3bn to build which would be funded by the private sector and could be up-and-running by 2018. It would generate around £30m to the local economy.

Nigel Cann, station director at Hinkley Point, said: "Hinkley has got the site, the people and the skills to be involved in building a new nuclear power plant.

"It is really good news for the people of Somerset."

However the Stop Hinkley campaign group said the new power station would be expensive and not safe.

It claims there are various health risks associated with the plant. A study commissioned by the campaign group found breast cancer mortality was 70% higher than the national average in Burnham, however Somerset Primary Care Trust said the figures were a 'statistical anomaly'.

Environmental choice?

Most environmentalists are against nuclear power stations. Greenpeace said if Britain built ten new reactors, nuclear power can only deliver a 4 per cent cut in carbon emissions some time after 2025. 

Stop Hinkley say it is unsafe

They also argue that most of the gas we use is for heating and hot water and for industrial purposes. Nuclear power cannot replace that energy. The answer to Brtain's energy needs are renewable, cleaner fossil fuels and energy efficiency, they argue.

Campaigners for nuclear claim it is a viable 'green' energy as it releases less harmful carbon dioxide emissions than other greener forms of electricity like wind power.

Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy said nuclear energy was "clean, safe, reliable and economically competitve" and that it emits no greenhouse gas and uranium resources are "inexhaustable".