Viceroy Jack vows to impose nuclear power on Scotland

And English Labour agrees

Published in the Edinburgh Evening News, May 20th, 2024.

Viceroy Alistair Jack informed a Westminster committee that he’ll impose nuclear power on an unwilling Scotland because he expects a “unionist regime” to be controlling Holyrood by 2026. Today The Scotsman published an editorial supporting his stance. 

Nuclear power is a terrible idea. 

First, it costs more than almost any other energy source, especially renewables, which Scotland has in abundance. Construction costs are astronomical. Hinkley Point C is costing £33 billion. Private finance won’t touch it without government subsidies, meaning consumers pick up the tab. Decommission costs for Dounreay on Scotland’s north coast are running at £7.9 billion, will take 50-60 years to complete and the soil will be contaminated with Plutonium-239, whose half-life is 24,000 years.  

Second, cancers are more common around nuclear sites. Scotland’s cancer rates are significantly higher than England’s. Sellafield, Europe’s most toxic plant, has been leaking pollution around Scotland’s coast for 70 years. Nuclear subs routinely traverse the Clyde, nuclear warheads travel through Scottish communities, and nuclear hulks are rotting in Rosyth. Tumours, childhood leukaemias, breast cancers, and cancers in the young are more frequent near nuclear plants.  

Third, accidents happen. There have been 3 significant accidents at Dounreay and there’s no safe storage for nuclear waste.

Fourth, Scotland doesn’t need it. Renewables provided 97% of Scotland’s domestic electricity demand in 2020 and huge amounts of offshore wind are coming on-stream. In 2021, Scotland sent 35 TWh of renewables to England and received no compensation. This is expected to increase to 124 TWh by 2030.

Finally, the Scottish People don’t want it. But our colonial status guarantees we’ll get things we don’t want forced on us anyway. And don’t expect English Labour to be any better. Like the Tories, it supports nuclear power as long as it’s as far away from London as possible - in ‘North Britain’.