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Nuclear energy could complement renewable energy, Scotland for Nuclear Energy said (Owen Humphreys\/PA) \u00b7 Owen Humphreys <\/p>\nScotland risks being left behind in the world unless the Government urgently ends its opposition to nuclear energy, a coalition of businesses and campaign groups has warned.<\/p>\n
Scotland for Nuclear Energy, launched by campaign groups Nuclear for Scotland and Britain Remade, said Scotland could miss out on jobs and economic growth as other countries invest in new nuclear technology.<\/p>\n
While energy is reserved to Westminster, powers over planning has given the SNP an effective veto over nuclear energy \u2013 something the party has long opposed but which is backed by Labour and the Tories.<\/p>\n
Scotland for Nuclear Energy claimed the country could build on its nuclear heritage to install new nuclear reactors in a move it said would complement, rather than compete with, renewable energy.<\/p>\n
Nuclear energy could complement renewable energy, Scotland for Nuclear Energy said (Owen Humphreys\/PA) \u00b7 Owen Humphreys <\/p>\n
Sam Richards, chief executive officer of Britain Remade, said: \u201cScotland has done brilliantly with renewables, but the wind doesn\u2019t always blow when we need it.<\/p>\n
\u201cNuclear is clean, reliable baseload power that keeps the lights on, stabilises bills and attracts huge investment.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when countries across Europe are embracing nuclear as a safe, clean and reliable part of the energy mix, the Scottish Government\u2019s refusal to even consider it is deeply irresponsible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey should drop their outdated opposition to nuclear power. If they don\u2019t, it will be the people of Scotland that miss out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group said while Scotland still has four registered nuclear sites, only one \u2013 Torness nuclear plant \u2013 is operation and generating power, providing what it described as \u201cclean power\u201d to two million homes.<\/p>\n
It pointed to polling which shows majority support for nuclear energy.<\/p>\n
Trudy Morris, chief executive of North Highland Chamber of Commerce, also backed the campaign.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cHere in the north Highlands, we have lived the reality of nuclear energy for decades and the transformative impact of NRS Dounreay on our economy, skills base and communities is impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has supported thousands of high-value jobs, invested in our supply chains and created expertise that continues to benefit the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe chamber supports a mixed energy economy. Renewables are central to Scotland\u2019s future but they work best alongside clean, reliable baseload power.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the highest safety standards, nuclear can complement renewables, strengthen energy security, cut emissions and ensure communities like ours continue to share in the economic benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Scottish Campaign to Resist the Atomic Menace said nuclear energy was a \u201cdistraction\u201d.<\/p>\n
Pete Roche, spokesman for the group, said: \u201cAs renewable energy-rich Scotland heads towards an election, it is all too predictable that nuclear lobbyists are again arguing that Scotland needs new nuclear power stations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey misleadingly present them as cheap, clean and \u2018green\u2019 \u2013 yet this is as far from the truth as it was 70 years ago when it was promised that nuclear energy would be \u2018too cheap to meter\u2019.<\/p>\n
Opponents say nuclear energy is neither \u2018clean\u2019 nor \u2018green\u2019 in the way renewable energy is (Daniel Leal-Olivas\/PA) \u00b7 Daniel Leal-Olivas <\/p>\n
\u201cAn energy system built around renewables is already happening. Meeting all our needs this way is not just possible but it\u2019s quicker and cheaper without the costly distraction of new nuclear.<\/p>\n
\u201cLow-cost renewable energy combined with storage, flexible power to balance the grid and smart local energy systems will make the best use of our incredible renewable resources and engineering know-how.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy dilute that by backing eye-wateringly expensive nuclear power stations?\u201d<\/p>\n
In response, Energy Secretary Gillian Martin said: \u201cThe Scottish Government does not support the creation of new nuclear reactors in Scotland.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew nuclear would be incredibly expensive and the levy placed on energy bills to pay for nuclear reactors will cost Scottish electricity bill payers \u00a3300 million over the next decade.<\/p>\n
\u201cNuclear reactors also produce a legacy of dangerous radioactive waste. A flexible, renewables\u2011led system supported by storage, hydrogen, and grid investment can deliver reliability without the issues associated with new nuclear.\u201d<\/p>\n
She continued: \u201cInstead, we are focused on supporting the development of Scotland\u2019s immense renewable energy potential \u2013 which provide more jobs, are faster to deliver, are safer, and more cost effective than the creation of new nuclear reactors.<\/p>\n
\u201cSignificant growth in renewables is providing key opportunities for our future energy workforce in Scotland, with independent scenarios from Ernst and Young (EY) showing that with the right support, Scotland\u2019s low carbon and renewable energy sector could support nearly 80,000 jobs by 2050.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scotland risks being left behind in the world unless the Government urgently ends its opposition to nuclear energy,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":743633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5009],"tags":[748,4884,12617,6501,37671,219920,5442,712,16,15],"class_list":["post-743632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scotland","tag-britain","tag-great-britain","tag-nuclear-energy","tag-nuclear-plant","tag-nuclear-reactors","tag-nuclear-technology","tag-renewable-energy","tag-scotland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116017154448817757","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/743633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}