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But what we do know is that right now, they are the clean men of the energy scene.. As for the environment, no-one really knows whether the pay-as-you go policy will be enough to cover the back-end costs when the nuclear stations reach the end of their lives. A new generation of pressurised water reactors would almost certainly mean higher electricity prices but it might also teach us to be more economical with the juice. Had it not been for the nuclear industry, Britain would have pumped another 51 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the ozone layer last year – the equivalent of half the greenhouse gases released by motor vehicles.The nuclear lobby certainly deserves to be listened to. Up until now, the debate about Britain’s future energy needs has been characterised as a fight to the death between coal and gas. Most of us thought we had seen the beginning of the end of the nuclear experiment in 1995, when the then Government decided it was an uneconomic proposition to fund it with any more taxpayers’ money. British Energy appeared to confirm this in the countdown to privatisation by tearing up the planning permission it had for one new nuclear station and withdrawing its planning application for another.

The spectre of the nuclear legacy had finally destroyed the argument for it as a fuel source Game, set and match to the environmental lobby. Or so it seemed.
Now the nuclear industry has turned the environmental argument on its head. It has persuaded investors that decommissioning and fuel clean-up costs of pounds 13bn are an acceptable risk. Furthermore, it has begun trying to persuade ministers that if they are to meet the greenhouse targets that Tony Blair signed up to in Kyoto, then more nuclear power is the only option.The statistics come tumbling out.

What it has now got, however, is the added complication of the nuclear industry throwing its twopennyworth into the debate about Britain’s future energy needs. The centre will be designed to cater for business people and professionals.
The group has another two sites in the pipeline and could build up to 10 large centres within the next three years. Greenalls will spend another pounds 200m the following year.Investment Column, page 24. THE GOVERNMENT needed the coal crisis, a classic confrontation between old and new Labour, like a hole in the head.

They are likely to be built on suburban greenfield sites.The new concept will also be introduced at a number of city centre budget lodges which the group plans to open over the next few years.Greenalls already runs the Village family leisure complexes and has sports facilities at its De Vere hotel chain but this will be the first time the group has opened a stand alone fitness chain.Lord Daresbury, chief executive of Greenalls, said: “The whole health and fitness area has strong growth potential We plan to concentrate on the upmarket end. There is also a strong market for people over 50 which has been left untapped.”Greenalls is also planning an aggressive expansion of its pub estate from its heartland in the North West and the Midlands, concentrating on growing its leading brands such as Millers Kitchen and Henry’s Cafe Bar.Overall the group plans to invest pounds 220m in the year to September opening 25 new sites. Greenalls plans to open its first centre in Cambridge next year on the site of an old British Telecom warehouse which will be given a pounds 4m facelift. Trafford Park shares rose 11.5p, or 6.4 per cent, to 191p, having climbed from 159.5p on 12 May. Trafford Park, with the approval of Barlows’ board, had offered to pay one of its shares for every 2.61971 Barlows shares held, valuing the company at pounds 26.7m.