The Government looks set to give the green light to the development of "mini" nuclear reactors in the coming months, in what will mark a welcome development after years of delays.

Ministers said a policy decision over Britain's nuclear strategy and development of “small modular reactors” will be made once it has conducted a further round of discussions with industry players.

Names such as Rolls-Royce, NuScale, Hitachi and Westinghouse have been in talks with civil servants over the UK's nuclear strategy for the past few weeks. The Government said it was now evaluating evidence over the commercial case for the reactors, including funding methods and the potential for export.

"The greater the certainty vendors can provide on technical and commercial aspects of their designs, the more attractive an investment proposition it becomes and the more likely they will be to attract the necessary private sector investment," the report said.

The new technology, expected to come into play as older nuclear power stations are decommissioned, will be able to offer energy at a third of the price of that generated through giant conventional reactors, such as the ongoing Hinkley Point in Somerset.

The reactors could deliver power at a cost £60 per megawatt hour, according to a Rolls-Royce report this week. This is almost the same price as offshore wind which it emerged on Monday could cost around £57.50 per megawatt hour.