Union: Opposition to nuclear power is costing jobs in Scotland
SCOTTISH Government ministers have been accused of putting skilled jobs at risk after being “blinded by their ill-informed view of nuclear energy”.
The warning comes after it was revealed that the Scottish Government has not held talks with Rolls-royce over the possibility of producing small nuclear reactors (SMRS) to help meet Scotland’s future net-zero energy needs.
Union leaders have pleaded with
SNP ministers to open up discussions with Rolls-royce about the nuclear power industry maintaining a presence in Scotland.
UK Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has asked regulators to assess the firm’s designs for the small reactors, insisting “this is a significant step in binging SMRS into existence”.
Rolls-royce is aiming to produce the reactors in a factory and hopes to start producing reactions in the early 2030s, with estimates for the 470MW units to cost around £1.8 billion – more expensive, proportionately, than the controversial Hinkley Point C plant in England where costs have soared.
In January, the Hunterston B nuclear plant in North Ayrshire ceased production, leaving the Edf-run Torness site in East Lothian as the only remaining nuclear power site in Scotland.
Amid Hunterston’s closure, the majority of staff said they wanted to carry on working at the plant.
EDF said that every member of staff who said they wanted to stay has been successful in securing a role through de-fuelling and some staff have been supported to move to other EDF sites.
Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for net zero, energy and transport, Liam Kerr, said: “Hard on the heels of being snubbed in the just transition fund, nuclear workers have suffered another missed opportunity as a result of the Snp-green coalition’s dogmatic stance on nuclear energy generation.
“This is a further blow, especially for staff based at the now-closed
Hunterston facility who could have utilised their skills in a Scottish-based nuclear industry had the Scottish Government engaged with Rolls-royce. Instead, they will have to uproot and move south if they wish to keep working in the nuclear sector - taking their valuable and transferable skills out of Scotland.
“This Snp-green Government is blinded by their ill-informed view of nuclear energy generation when a more considered approach could keep people in the high skilled, high performing jobs they are trained to do whilst enabling others, especially our younger people to train into these roles.”
Energy is largely reserved to the UK Government but the Scottish Government effectively has a veto on new nuclear power developments through planning regulations.
SNP Net Zero, Energy and Transport Secretary, Michael Matheson, has stressed his Government’s continued opposition to new nuclear power developments under current technology, including small modular reactors.
He said: “The reality is that, although small modular reactors represent a change in construction type, the technology is the same, by and large, on a smaller scale.
“As we have set out in our energy strategy, under existing technologies, we do not support new nuclear energy provision.
“Although there is a change in terms of scale and in the nature of its construction, in terms of the principle of the nuclear process, it remains the same, and it is not a new technology in that sense.”
In a letter to Mr Matheson, senior organiser of the GMB union, Drew Duffy, warned that “nuclear workers and GMB members across Scotland are in danger of once again being left behind due to the Scottish Government’s continued opposition to nuclear power”.
He added: “The Scottish Government needs to outline if it’s opposed to these jobs being in Scotland. If not, then they must begin immediate discussions with Rolls-royce to bid for the factory and the jobs it will bring.”
Nuclear workers are in danger of once again being left behind