The Conservatives will today set out plans to pursue new nuclear power in Scotland, challenging the Scottish Government’s long standing opposition to building new reactors north of the border.
Shadow energy secretary Andrew Bowie will use a speech to the UK Conservative conference today to argue that Scotland should be considered as a potential location for Britain’s next generation of nuclear power stations.
Bowie is expected to say the UK needs a third new large scale nuclear reactor and that no part of Great Britain should automatically be excluded from consideration.
The announcement puts the Conservatives on a direct collision course with the Scottish Government, which has maintained its opposition to the construction of conventional new nuclear power stations.
Scotland’s remaining operational nuclear power station at Torness in East Lothian is currently expected to close by 2030, raising a much wider debate about what replaces its generating capacity and what role nuclear energy should play alongside Scotland’s substantial renewable resources.
The Conservatives argue that excluding Scotland from future nuclear development could cost the country jobs, investment and a potentially important source of reliable electricity generation.
Their proposal is significant because Bowie says the party will examine how legislation could be used to deliver new nuclear energy in Scotland, rather than simply calling on the Scottish Government to change its policy.
Conservative shadow energy secretary Andrew Bowie MP said:
“The SNP’s effective ban on new nuclear energy in Scotland flies in the face of common-sense.
“No part of Great Britain should be missing out on plans for new nuclear renewal.
“That is why I am delighted to announce that the Conservatives will look to see how we can legislate to deliver new nuclear energy in Scotland.
“The SNP’s luddite approach is costing jobs in Scotland, harming our energy security and ending Scotland’s rich and powerful association with the nuclear industry.
“If John Swinney and SNP ministers want to have a fight over any plans that would deliver thousands of jobs and protect energy security, then I say bring it on.”
The argument is likely to extend well beyond party politics, particularly as Scotland attempts to balance rapidly growing renewable generation with the need for dependable electricity when wind and other intermittent sources are producing less.
For the Highlands and Islands, the wider question of energy policy is particularly relevant given the enormous contribution the region already makes through hydro, onshore wind, offshore wind and the rapidly expanding transmission network needed to move that electricity around the country.
Whether a future large scale nuclear development would ever be proposed for Scotland remains another matter entirely, but the Conservatives have now made clear that they do not believe Holyrood should be able to rule Scotland out before potential locations are even considered.
That sets up what could become a substantial constitutional as well as energy policy argument over who ultimately decides where Britain’s next generation of nuclear power stations can be built.
