Scots aren't having our voices heard – nuclear is one such case study
It was organised by Britain Remade, a lobby group headed by former Tory spad Sam Richards. He described Britain Remade as a 'cross-party campaigning group' that believes in economic growth and building infrastructure.
Britain Remade's campaign, 'New Scottish Nuclear Power', aims to reverse Scotland's ban on new nuclear power.
Also present were councillor Norman Hampshire, the leader of East Lothian Council (ELC) and chair of the planning committee, and Labour MSP for South Scotland Martin Whitfield.
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Richards boasted about the UK's nuclear power track record. In 1956, the world's first nuclear reactor, Calder Hall, was built in Sellafield, Cumbria. The plant produced plutonium for the UK nuclear weapons programme – electricity for the domestic market was a sideline. Throughout its 47-year life, it exposed workers and the public to higher levels of radiation than comparable reactors and it wasn't economically viable for long periods.
Sellafield is the site of Europe's worst nuclear accident – the 1957 Windscale fire, that led to the atmospheric dispersion of radioactive materials throughout England, Wales and northern Europe. Sellafield has been a nuclear waste dump since 1959 and has been called Europe's most toxic nuclear site, a 'bottomless pit of hell, money and despair'. It's a reason Scotland has been dubbed the 'cancer capital of the world'.
That's a hell of a track record.
Richards blamed high electricity bills on the UK's failure to build more nuclear plants, claiming nuclear was the reason France had lower bills. Wrong. Nuclear power has never been economic. It requires government subsidies and there's no solution for radioactive waste disposal. French energy bills are lower because France didn't privatise its energy and thus retained the ability to cap costs. The French government owns 100% of Électricité de France (EDF), which runs the Torness plant and the UK's four other operating nuclear plants.
EDF should be showing far more concern about the safety of its UK plants. The Torness reactor has 46 cracks in its core which the ONR (Office for Nuclear Regulation) said could lead to a reactor meltdown and the release of radiation into the environment. EDF has extended the life of the plant to 2030.
Britain Remade's goal is to get the ban on nuclear lifted and to use the Torness site for new nuclear plants.
Whitfield trotted out two pro-nuclear talking points, both of which are easily refuted:
1. Nuclear power doesn't increase CO2.
Not so. There are carbon emissions from mining, transporting and processing uranium, from constructing power plants and from transporting radioactive waste to places like Sellafield. By contrast, renewable energy doesn't increase CO2, there's no mining required or toxic waste to dispose of, and Scotland is bursting with renewables.
2. Nuclear power creates skilled jobs for life.
The renewables industry also creates skilled jobs for life without shortening it – in engineering, project management, data analysis and renewable energy technologies – and doesn't endanger the health of workers or the local community.
Councillor Hampshire, who worked at Torness, said that although he 'had to support renewables', nuclear is needed for baseload power, which is the minimum power level on the grid.
Wrong again. Baseload power can be provided by any mix of generators, including variable wind and solar, if constant backup sources like tidal are provided. Furthermore, nuclear can't be easily switched off, so when it's present on the grid, much cheaper renewables are limited, which raises costs to the consumer.
Nonetheless, councillor Hampshire said he was lobbying hard for more nuclear power. He wants two Rolls-Royce SMRs (Small Modular Reactors) at the Torness site, claiming they're cheaper and quicker to build and said that many SNP MSPs support him.
I wrote about SMRs in February, showing they are more expensive than and just as dangerous as large nuclear reactors; will generate more radioactive waste and will turn communities into de facto long-term nuclear waste disposal sites.
Only two SMRs are operating in the world – in Russia and China. Both are performing at less than 30% capacity and have been plagued by cost and time overruns. According to the World Nuclear Industry Status Report, these problems 'make it even less likely that SMRs will become commercialised.'
Despite these facts, councillor Hampshire vows to include SMRs in the next ELC Local Development Plan. We were told that a lot of work is going on behind the scenes to ensure Torness remains an active nuclear site – with the UK having to import energy, otherwise.
During the Q&A, Whitfield was asked what it would take to change Scotland's position. He replied 'a change of government' and questioned whether Scotland has the authority to ban nuclear power since energy policy is reserved to the UK. It does because the Scotland Act 1998 devolves planning to Scotland.
Nevertheless, Whitfield said this could and would be tested through the courts, although he later clarified there were no definite plans to mount a legal challenge to Scotland's authority to ban new nuclear power.
English Labour are pushing for more nuclear because they're funded by the industry. The industry expects a return.
Nuclear power is another issue crying out for direct democracy, where the Scottish people – not special interests who are in bed with the politicians – have the power to decide via a referendum whether they want it or not. There are many other issues, local and national, over which the Scottish people have no control – pylons in the Highlands, corporate tax haven 'freeports', the closures of Ardrossan Harbour and Grangemouth, the Loch Lomond Flamingo Land development, to name just a few.
If we're to stop special interests always crushing the interests of the people, we must demand our international human rights. That's why Respect Scottish Sovereignty (RSS) is urging as many as possible to sign PE2135, to enact the Direct Democracy/Self-Determination Covenant (ICCPR) into Scots law.
Leah Gunn Barrett
Edinburgh
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