How the SNP's anti-nuclear obsession is damaging efforts to reach net zero
The SNP needs to recognise that the most credible pathway to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions involves nuclear power
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On a visit to Torness in East Lothian, UK energy minister Martin McCluskey called for talks with the Scottish government to ensure the nuclear power station does not go out of service in 2030and spoke of his concern that the SNP was actively "deindustrialising parts of Scotland because of an ideological obsession against nuclear".
His fears are well founded. According to the party, “the SNP will not give the green light to nuclear power stations in Scotland” as they believe “a commitment to costly nuclear energy is to the detriment of consumers, the environment and the public purse”.
Their position is a long-standing one that dates back to a very different time when coal was king, climate change seemed a distant threat, and many people conflated nuclear energy with nuclear weapons.
Soaring demand for electricity
However, as a source of low-carbon electricity, the environmental credentials of nuclear have vastly improved in recent years. Importantly, it provides a steady flow of baseload generation that helps offset the intermittency of renewables like wind and solar. It may be more expensive, but it brings added value.
Given the soaring demand for electricity – with, for example, ever more electric cars, air-conditioning units and energy-hungry data centres – the world needs nuclear, if it is going to limit the ‘overshoot’ of global temperatures above 1.5 degrees Celsius.
According to the International Energy Agency, nuclear energy is “a leading source of clean and secure electricity generation – second only to hydropower among low-emissions sources”. It adds: “Positive developments for nuclear are well timed, as the world is moving towards the Age of Electricity... nuclear can play an important role in meeting growing power demand securely and sustainably”.
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Under a feasible pathway to net-zero emissions by 2050, drawn up by the IEA in 2022, nuclear energy would need to nearly double. Not making use of it would make that path significantly more difficult.
The SNP’s anti-nuclear stance is old-fashioned, blinkered and actively at odds with the need to reach net zero. It may be hard for some on the left to stomach, but it is a simple fact that we need nuclear – and ‘ideological obsessions’ are holding us back.
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