nuclear-news

Scotland government adamant in rejection of nuclear power.

BBC, 6 Dec 23,

First Minister Humza Yousaf has spent the best part of a week at COP28, and his government is keen to push ahead with most carbon-cutting initiatives.

However they could not be further from embracing the declarations on nuclear energy.

Scotland has one remaining active nuclear power plant – at Torness in East Lothian – and it is slated to close by 2028. After that there will still be nuclear in the energy mix here, but it will be generated south of the border.

That’s because while energy policy is largely set at Westminster, planning powers are devolved to Holyrood, meaning the Scottish government is able to block projects it opposes – including all involving nuclear power and fracking.

This week, Energy Secretary Neil Gray told MSPs that nuclear was expensive, unsafe and not wanted north of the border.

Mr Gray said: “It’s not needed in Scotland – we have abundant natural energy resources and capital which can contribute to our energy mix, and as we are seeing from experiences elsewhere in the UK, new nuclear power takes years if not decades to become operational and will push up household and business energy bills even more.

“We know the Tories care little these days about achieving a pathway to net zero, but this SNP government still does and we believe significant growth in renewables, storage hydrogen and carbon capture provide the best pathway to net zero in Scotland.”….

Green minister Patrick Harvie told BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show that nuclear energy was “always going to be expensive and risky”.

Those concerns about risk have been underlined by reporting in the Guardian about an alleged cyber-attack on Sellafield, the site which stores much of the UK’s nuclear waste….

December 7, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized