Nuclear plea

Lorna Slater's article "Where's the climate urgency?" (Scotsman, 17 April) makes interesting reading. It refers to a green recovery and says Scotland must not be left behind. With regard to energy and making the transition to electrification, Scotland has been left behind. This is mainly due to the policy of both the SNP and Green Party opposing nuclear power plants being built in Scotland.

There is no mention of nuclear power in either the SNP or Green Party literature but the majority of engineers find it hard to envisage a future where we can decarbonise the electricity power grid in an affordable way without increasing our nuclear generating capacity by a significant amount. Scottish politicians should be advised that nuclear energy is the key component of achieving a "green recovery".

The British electricity grid is a single engineering entity and it is essential that synchronous generation support from nuclear plants is provided to ensure grid stability. Increasing renewable capacity on its own will not provide a stable grid system without gas and nuclear generating capacity in the system.

I would suggest that anyone who is concerned about the climate emergency should not cast their vote for parties who are not supporting nuclear energy. Without a significant increase in nuclear capacity it isvery unlikely that the target for net zero carbon emissions will be met by 2050.

C SCOTT Mortonhall Road, Edinburgh