Nuclear financing legislation being introduced in the UK will harness the potential of private capital to be partners in the construction of new reactors, the country’s upper house of parliament was told, while also being warned that China and Russia should be barred from future UK nuclear power projects.

Lord Rooker, a Labour Party peer, warned against China’s and Russia’s involvement in building new plants as they were “unreliable”.

He made his comments during a House of Lords debate as he backed government plans for a new way of funding nuclear power stations in the UK, aimed at reducing dependence on overseas developers for finance.