Nuclear fuel protesters raise the roof, but no Blair climbdown

Greenpeace demonstrators climbed into the roof space of the London conference centre and threatened to disrupt the Prime Minister's announcement unless they could put their anti-nuclear case first to the waiting cameras.

But the Confederation of British Industry organisers refused to cave in and, after almost an hour's delay, the conference was moved into a cramped neighbouring room, where Mr Blair confirmed that nuclear would form part of the energy review, to be concluded by next summer.

"Round the world you can sense feverish re-thinking. Energy prices have risen. Energy supply is under threat. Climate change is producing a sense of urgency," Mr Blair told business leaders.

A review headed by Malcolm Wicks, the energy minister, would "include specifically the issue of whether we facilitate the development of a new generation of nuclear power stations".

Coal and nuclear plants responsible for 30 per cent of electricity generation were due to be decommissioned by 2020.

Mr Blair warned that "some of this will be replaced by renewables but not all of it can".

Nations needed to diversify out of energy dependence on one source, he added.

Britain was also in transition from being self-sufficient in gas to being an importer.

Mr Blair had earlier laughed off the incident with Greenpeace protesters. He told delegates, forced to stand in the makeshift venue: "This is going to be a surreal occasion."

When a mobile phone rang in the middle of his sentence about affordability, Mr Blair said: "that will be the Chancellor".

Two protesters, Huw Williams and Nyls Verhauelt, were arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass.

They dropped hundreds of bright yellow stickers on to delegates.

Conference organisers said the pair had obtained their official badges by giving the name of a bogus company.

They smuggled metal harnesses through the security cordon.

Rejecting their demands for an audience, Sir Digby Jones, the CBI's director general, said the country urgently needed a revamped and coherent energy policy "which includes a clear decision on nuclear power. Potential investors in new power generation plants require a clear and stable framework from government in which to plan."

Businesses needed secure and affordable energy supplies for the long term.

The review, which comes nearly three years after the last landmark investigation into the country's power supplies, was applauded by other business leaders and scientists, however, environmental campaigners warned against a new nuclear age.

Miles Templeman, the director general of the Institute of Directors, said energy costs had shot up the business agenda.

He called for a firm, fast decision, but warned that the review must have "teeth" and had to lead to action.

Miles Seaman, the chairman of Sustainability Subject Group at the Institution of Chemical Engineers, said the government needed to "get off the fence" and clarify its plans, before the skills of the nuclear industry were lost.

Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrats' leader, warned of a "nuclear tax" if the government commissioned new atomic stations.

"The Department of Trade and Industry has made no assessment of the costs of the construction of new nuclear power stations," he said.

The clean-up bill for radioactive waste was already 56 billion - or 800 a head for every British citizen, he said.

Stephen Tindale, the director of Greenpeace UK, said the Prime Minister's attempt to bounce the country into a new nuclear energy mirrored his stubbornness over Iraq.

"Just three years ago Blair conducted the biggest energy review in 60 years - which concluded renewable energy and energy efficiency, not nuclear, is the way forward."