Nuclear power is not the answer to climate change - and will hasten the chances of devastating nuclear war, terrorist attack or accident, Green Party MEP Caroline Lucas has warned ahead of the publication of the Government's latest Energy White Paper tomorrow.

Speaking from the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Dr Lucas said: "The Government's wish to see a new generation of nuclear power stations built in the English countryside is a disaster for world peace and the environment.

"It also ignores the advice of its own Sustainable Development Commission, established to advise the Government on environmental issues. The SDC concluded last year that there is no need for new nuclear power stations - saying the dangers and costs outweigh any potential benefits in terms of combating climate change or guaranteeing future energy security."

Dr Lucas is a member of the European Parliament's influential Environment Committee and is the Greens' co-ordinator on its recently-established Climate Change Committee.

She added: "We should concentrate on reducing energy demand through conservation and energy-efficiency measures, and financially supporting the development of alternative renewable energy generation capacity.

"This would bring multiple benefits: cutting greenhouse gas emissions, creating thousands of green jobs', reducing fuel poverty, improving air quality - and cutting electricity bills.

"Nuclear power, by contrast, will close off investment in renewable alternatives, and make the world a much more dangerous place by sending out a signal to the rest of the world that the only way to deal with climate change is with nuclear power.

"This would hasten the construction of new nuclear power stations around the world and therefore increase the volume of nuclear materials available globally, at a time of increasing concern about international terrorism - and the chances of another devastating Chernobyl-style accident.

"In short, nuclear energy is unsafe, unpopular, expensive and entirely unnecessary."