Homeowners could be able to switch energy sources more easily as a consortium of three energy companies has bought the Sellafield site and plans to build a new reactor.
Iberdrola, GDF Suez and Scottish and Southern Energy bought the site from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority for £70 million and plan to start developing a new 3.6 gigawatt nuclear reactor in 2015.
The consortium will spend the next few years showing how it can help stimulate the UK economy and make the site suitable for a new development.
Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, said: "This sale is further proof that we're giving industry the confidence to invest and that the UK is creating a successful low-carbon economy."
EDF is due to lead nuclear redevelopment in the UK with the first of its four new nuclear reactors scheduled to become operational in 2017.
The government is under pressure to develop viable carbon capture and storage technology as coal is likely to remain a necessary part of the UK's energy infrastructure for some years.
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