Report to recommend UK boost nuclear power-paper

LONDON Aug 5 (Reuters) - A report will recommend on Wednesday that Britain treble the share of electricity it generates from nuclear power, the Times reported.

The paper said in its Wednesday edition that Malcolm Wicks -- British prime minister Gordon Brown's special envoy on energy security and a former energy minister -- will recommend accelerating plans to build a new generation of nuclear reactors to avoid becoming dependent on imported gas.

Wicks, who has worked on the report for almost a year, is expected to call for the UK to boost the share of electricity generated from nuclear to as much as 30-to-40 percent from 13 percent last year, the paper said.

The report also will question whether government projections that the North Sea will supply 55 percent of the UK's total gas needs in 2020 may be too optimistic, the paper added.

Malcolm Wicks could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change declined to comment. (Reporting by Laurence Fletcher; editing by Carol Bishopric)