Nuclear Power and Hot Air

The SNP have a fairly obvious strategy at the moment. Choose populist areas and make a lot of hay out of them to gather as many rosebuds (and wavering voters) while they may.

This political tactic has seen them save local hospitals, strongly back the Commonwealth Games, end road tolls on the Forth Crossing and vocally oppose nuclear weapons in Scotland.

It is therefore only a matter of time before the slick SNP machine gets the Sunday headlines to discuss Nuclear Energy in Scotland. And in my opinion, the sooner they get going on this the better it will be for them.

The question of where we get our power from is a specific area that largely divides the UK. You have the woolly jumper brigade who want renewables at any cost based on principles or you have the hard-nosed b*stards who want nuclear energy based on cold hard cash. Maybe that’s painting two extremes but I think we can all ally ourselves to one camp or the other.

And it seems most Scots ally themselves with the woolly jumper brigade. Perhaps as a result of there being more scope for renewable energy north of the border. After all, if we’re going to have wind and rain all the time we might as bloody well get some use out of them!

And yet, the reason why we seem to have this fundamental dislike of all things nuclear has always seemed rather vague. I personally think The Simpsons may have fed a lot of people’s knowledge on this subject more than science has. Images of a garish bright green Springfield after Homer’s latest gaffe at the nuclear plant would scare anyone stupid enough not to be watching the news at 6pm on a weekday!

So some lesser known facts deserve to be heard here:

· Nuclear power emits less radiation than coal-burning power plants.

· Nuclear power plants are a cheaper source of energy than any other available source. It costs £39/MWh for nuclear power compared with £81/MWh for offshore renewable energy.

· Nuclear power is carbon-free at the point of generation and yet does not attract greenhouse gas credits at a UN level.

· 77% of France is powered by Nuclear energy, 28% of Germany is powered by Nuclear energy while 0% of Italy is powered by Nuclear energy. Approximately 16% of the UK is nuclear-powered.


So, nuclear power is cheap, it’s popular with our closest continental cousins and of course it is much more stable in terms of delivery. Will people really want to depend on wind and waves to ensure whether or not they can have a cup of tea? With nuclear power you just flick a switch and as long as you have enough fuel, you can be sure the National Grid will be stocked with x% of its needs all year round.

But a final fact is going to bring the nuclear and renewable energy debate pushed to the fore before too long:


· The power sector is responsible for c.40% of worldwide CO2 emissions with c.70% of these emissions from coal powered generation.


With carbon emission limits tightening as the years tick by, you can be sure that coal-powered generation will be getting squeezed out and in its place there are two main options: nuclear or renewable.

I stated above that renewable energy is twice the price of nuclear so it’s pretty clear the government (of either country) will be getting leaned on pretty hard by the power companies to allow nuclear power to continue on our shores.

The SNP has more to gain from resisting these overtures as it wants the principled and perhaps romantic stance that Scotland should be powered by renewables as much as possible. The UK Government will lean towards the money side of the debate and accept the need for more nuclear power stations.

So it would be sensible for the SNP government to spread its rosebud-net far and wide by stoking up as much anti-nuclear sentiment in this country before the inevitable head-on collision between the UK and Scottish Governments takes place.

The days of burning masses of fuel to heat our homes will soon be over. What takes its place, nuclear energy or renewable energy, could be the hottest potato of the next decade and, indirectly, could have a large bearing on the independence question. So make your mind up now before you get rushed into it, and be wary that to be anti-nuclear may well end up meaning you are anti-British.


It may not have all of the facts on its side but the SNP has most of the people and that’s all that counts as the long road to independence winds on.