First Minister Alex Salmond has placed Holyrood on a collision course with Westminster and Gordon Brown by insisting there was "no chance" of new nuclear power stations being built in Scotland.

Mr Brown has given his backing to a new wave of nuclear plants by 2020 and the details will be contained in a white paper being published by the government on Wednesday.

Alistair Darling, the Trade and Industry Secretary, is expected to say that new stations are essential if Britain is to meet its energy requirements and hit targets for the reduction of CO2 emissions.

But Mr Salmond, the newly elected First Minister, yesterday said he would use Holyrood's control of planning laws to block nuclear power plants north of the border.

His comments came as a poll of MSPs found that more than half were opposed to new nuclear power stations in Scotland. Mr Salmond told the BBC's Politics Show: "As far as Scotland is concerned, I think we'll be saying: Nuclear power - no thanks'. There's absolutely no chance of us allowing a new generation of nuclear power in Scotland.

"There is just no consensus in Scottish society or in the Scottish Parliament to have foisted on us another generation of nuclear power stations."

The SNP will invest an extra £98m in expanding renewable energy generation and £15m on green energy research. Mr Salmond wants to see one million domestic wind turbines.

At the moment, around 20% of Britain's electricity is generated by nuclear power plants.

But Mr Darling, who will publish the government's plans in a white paper, has warned that "the lights could go out" unless plans are urgently drawn up to meet the country's energy needs.

Yesterday, he said he believed the best way to meet the demand was to employ a combination of methods, including nuclear and renewables. He said: "I firmly believe that we need to have a mix of energy supplies.

"I started off a sceptic as far as nuclear was concerned but if we don't keep that open as an option then we run a grave risk of not having enough energy when we need it."

Speaking on the day that four cooling towers at the Chapelcross nuclear power station in Dumfriesshire were demolished, Mr Darling added: "We've got to strike a sensible balance and I think including nuclear as an option would do that.

The poll of MSPs, which was conducted on behalf of Friends of the Earth Scotland, suggests that any attempts to build new nuclear power stations north of the border would be blocked. Of the 99 MSPs who responded, 72 said they were opposed to new plants, 24 were in favour and three were undecided.

Duncan McLaren, Friends of the Earth Scotland's chief executive, said of the demolition of the 300ft Chapelcross stacks: "The closure and clean-up of Chapelcross should intensify our drive for increased energy efficiency and clean renewables, not a return to polluting and expensive nuclear. This week's energy white paper looks like putting Westminster on a collision course with the Scottish Parliament.

"Should Gordon Brown attempt to implement Tony Blair's radioactive legacy by imposing nuclear power stations on Scotland he can now be sure it will be met with stiff opposition. The results of our survey couldn't be clearer - new nuclear power stations are not welcome in Scotland."

Mr McLaren added: "Any attempt to foist new nuclear power on Scotland would be an expensive, ineffective and risky distraction from sensible measures to address climate change. Continued investment in energy efficiency and clean renewables are the only sure fire ways to reduce Scotland's climate change emissions." Nicol Stephen, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said his party would support the SNP in its bid to block new stations.

He said: "We intend to play a constructive role in opposition in the new parliament and the Liberal Democrats are opposed to new nuclear power." The conflict over nuclear power opened up as Mr Salmond put himself at odds with prominent sports figures over his backing for Scotland to have its own Olympic team.

Lee McConnell, the medal-winning Scots athlete, and Ian Stewart, who won gold for Scotland at the 1970 Commonwealth Games, said they were against the move.