Just over a week ago, the Times had the above story.
Last year, the Scottish Cons were onboard, with:
The Scottish Conservatives are calling for a new generation of nuclear power stations – to hurt Putin, keep bills low and help us transition to Net Zero.
Nuclear energy produced over a quarter of Scotland’s electricity in 2020 – but the SNP are refusing to reverse their opposition to this low-carbon energy source.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has underlined the importance of energy security.
We can no longer afford to allow the SNP-Green’s immature understanding of our energy needs hold Scotland back.
https://www.scottishconservatives.com/news/nuclear-scottish-conservatives/
Today, the Herald had:
The police force that guards the UK’s nuclear plants reported 37 security breaches last year, including the thefts of a uniform, confidential documents, an officer’s day book and three “classified” Microsoft tablets.
19 cases where staff lost their warrant or ID cards.
The 37 incidents reported last year was the highest number for 8 years.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/23362809.civil-nuclear-constabulary-reports-37-security-breaches-one-year/?ref=ebbn
Theft of a uniform and loss of ID? Isn’t that a bit scary? You don’t have to be too paranoid to wonder why someone might want a uniform and ID. See:
There were 456 nuclear energy security warnings in the UK in 2021. Reported incidents include physical security issues, such as unauthorised people gaining unsupervised access to secure areas, as well as cybersecurity issues such as attacks by malicious software.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/26/security-warnings-at-uk-nuclear-energy-facilities-hit-12-year-high#:~:text=There%20were%20456%20nuclear%20energy%20security%20warnings%20in%20the%20UK%20in%202021&text=Reported%20incidents%20include%20physical%20security,as%20attacks%20by%20malicious%20software.
Are UK nuclear facilities protected well?
Nuclear power plants were not designed to withstand some forms of terrorist attack, such as large aircraft impact, but existing safety and security regimes provide some [sic] defence.
https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/post/postpr222.pdf
Write to your local Con MSP?
Talking-up Scotland 
As usual,the London based political parties are forming energy policy based on England’s needs.
Scotland has no requirement for this form of electricity generation.
Westminster has been holding back investment in Scottish renewables purely for political reasons and appears determined to foist this upon us,in part to enhance their one nation narrative but also to fool Scottish tax payers and consumers into contributing to their vastly expensive nuclear program.
Not so much a white elephant,more a white dynosaur.
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Scotland has, indeed, no need for new nuclear energy stations and, when the current ones reach the end of their lives, they should be decommissioned. Scotland already produces more than enough energy for Scotland’s needs using renewables.
What we need to do is to begin retrofitting older properties to make them more energy efficient, require that all new builds are to ‘Passivhaus’ or similar standards. We need to reduce transport energy use by developing 15/20 minute neighbourhoods and improving public transport provision, including reopening former rail lines and building new ones. And we need to withdraw from or, more likely, renegotiate ‘national’ grid prices, so that places like Shetland which are rich in energy do not pay through the nose for electricity supplies. Much of renewables production is in relatively sparsely populated area yet these areas pay most of supplies. This has to change and, if it does, this is likely to encourage repopulation of these areas.
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England may well require nukes to provide enough power for its dense population and high energy needs.
If there are a “few” £billion going a-begging ( Scotland share), they should be spend on tidal power and hydrogen production.
Three decades ago it was calculated that a few dozen square miles of desert in North Africa, converted to solar power, could, theoretically provide enough electricity for CLOBAL needs.
German industry at the time was interested enough to consider investment in such a project, but radicalism and war put an end to it.
We in Scotland should be shouting to Europe about our potential, otherwise we will end up being robbed by London, yet again.
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“England may well require nukes to provide enough power for its dense population and high energy needs”
After all, energy conservation is taboo in Toryland…
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HMG has long been in the habit of finding the most expensive and complicated solutions to problems, but the most recent bunkum from Tories over nuclear being the “magic bullet” is excuse for it all going to shit in England (oft literally) as calamitous prior decisions inconveniently converge.
England has run out of power AND water, the latter needs RO plants for which the former is required – Watch this summer’s headlines in England as droughts return with even more areas affected.
On nuclear in Scotland – Remember that facile SKY article recently decrying wind gennies having to be turned off at huge cost to the public, because the GRID COULDN’T HANDLE IT….
New Nuclear ?
These Tory propaganda games are increasingly coming back to haunt them….
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£13Billion a year is being spent decommissioning Nuclear. Over ten years. Hickley Point and every other nuclear plant is over cost and over times. £Billions. A total waste of monies. Yet the Tories want to build more. Beyond ridiculous. The Tories will be come before more follies. Nuclear waste is being flown around the world and dumped in Scotland. People do not want it here. Nuclear premises were shut down in 1992 outside London. Plenty of protests there. Scotland is in surplus in fuel and energy and does not need nuclear. There is a shift to renewables, worldwide. Scotland in surplus in fuel and energy, and nearer the source, pays more. A burden on the Scottish economy,
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Tories no doubt have vested financial and political interests in nuclear power, the costs for building new nuke power plants is astronomical and takes years, no one in their right mind would contemplate it unless they were going to benefit personally. The sheer idea of building more nuke plants anywhere is utter madness, and Scotland has to simply say NO to even the notion of that being forced through by the English government.
Extremely worrying that security breaches are happening at all, and suggests a terrifying lack of competence in the English government to ensure the safety of the power plants, and of course the people of Scotland are collateral as has always been the case.
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