Scottish Labour’s nuclear energy policy shattered by latest estimate for one half-mile deep (!) waste storage facility costing nearly £70 BILLION 40 years after a Scottish Labour council rejected the idea

Professor John Robertson OBA

Thanks to Frances McKie, once more, for this alert.

When I arrived in Ayr in 1984 and began hillwalking in the nearby hills, I heard of the local community’s recent campaign of resistance to plans to bury nuclear waste under the granite 2 270ft mountain, Mullwharchar, 30 miles away but visible from the town,  in the Dungeon Hills, a sub-range of the Galloway Hills range.

From No2NuclearPower:

The first planning application was made in January 1978 to Kyle and Carrick District Council (South-west Scotland) by the UKAEA to test drill on Mullwharchar Hill near Loch Doon on the border between Strathclyde and Dumfries and Galloway. On 24th October 1978, the Council rejected the application, so in April 1979, the Authority lodged an appeal with the Secretary of State for Scotland.

On 19th February 1980 [with a Labour Council in place], a public inquiry [began in Ayr Town Hall, finishing on 19th March. Three opposition groups were formed: a branch of the Edinburgh-based group, the Scottish Campaign to Resist the Atomic Menace (SCRAM), opened in Castle Douglas; the Scottish Conservation Society formed in Kirkcudbright and the Campaign Opposing Nuclear Dumping (COND) formed in Ayr. The inquiry fuelled massive public opposition, and other groups formed across Scotland, some near sites which had not even made it to the short list of 8.

For more on the public Inquiry see Poison in Our Hills, SCRAM 1980. (Part 1 and Part 2.)

https://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/radwaste/history-of-nuclear-waste-disposal-proposals-in-britain/

40 years later and with a Labour UK Government in place, from New Civil Engineer two days ago:

The true cost of an underground facility for long-term storage of nuclear waste has been revealed to be up to £68.7bn – £15bn more than the sum listed in the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority’s (Nista’s) recent annual report.

A Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) represents a monumental undertaking, consisting of an engineered vault placed between 200m and 1km underground, covering an area of approximately 1km2 on the surface. This facility is designed to safely contain nuclear waste while allowing it to decay over thousands of years, thereby reducing its radioactivity and associated hazards.

Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) is responsible for the GDF project and declares that this method offers the most secure solution for managing the UK’s nuclear waste, aimed at relieving future generations of the burden of storage. NWS is part of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), which is itself an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

Nista is a unit of HM Treasury and published its NISTA Annual Report 2024 to 2025 in August 2025, where it described the GDF project as ‘Red’, meaning the projects appears to be “unachievable”, and as having a whole life cost of from £20bn to £53.3bn.

However, Nista’s Infrastructure Pipeline lists the GDF’s CapEx (capital expenditure) range for new infrastructure in 2024/2025 prices as being from £26.2bn to £68.7bn, with the top end being slightly over £15bn higher than the figure published in the annual report.

Full report at: https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/true-cost-of-nuclear-waste-disposal-facility-15bn-higher-than-recent-treasury-figures-23-10-2025/

Up to 1km underground, 0.6 miles! £68 BILLION (until the contractor then hikes that as work begins) Why? Because the waste is so dangerous and so for thousands of years.

Do we actually need further debate on an energy source that requires this kind of insane additional cost?

You can still support Talking-up Scotland at any time at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method - Bernadette/John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421

16 thoughts on “Scottish Labour’s nuclear energy policy shattered by latest estimate for one half-mile deep (!) waste storage facility costing nearly £70 BILLION 40 years after a Scottish Labour council rejected the idea”

  1. Scotland is being bombarded with pro-nuclear propaganda through the media that operate here. There are no facts, no serious questioning, no costs or timescale. Ed Miliband is allowed to issue fact-free p!sh from behind a “secret source” screen.

    Decades ago, it was discovered that the safest (?) disposal site for nuclear waste were the deep clay beds in the south of England. Nope, that will NEVER happen.

    Its proposed the “Prince” Andrew should be exiled in Scotland. Why us?

    Reform proposed that “illegals” should be shipped off to Scotland. Why us?

    If there is a sniff of a nuclear plant being built in Scotland, then this is where they will want to dump the waste–and they wont spend any £70 billion doing it–an old coal mine will suffice.

    gavinochiltree

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  2. The Mullwharcher plan was successfully opposed by Willie McRae.

    As a vocal critic of the British nuclear lobby, he was a significant and ubiquitous figure in a campaign against the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority’s plans to dispose of nuclear waste in the Galloway Hills.

    Representing the SNP at a public inquiry, Mr McRae eviscerated the UKAEA and declared: “Nuclear waste should be stored where Guy Fawkes put his gunpowder.”

    The authority’s plans were rejected, and he was credited with “single-handedly” preventing the area from becoming a nuclear dump.

    Mystery still surrounds the death of Willie McRae after 40 years

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    1. Very much so Capella. Add in the deaths of Hilda Murrell in 1984, and Dr. David Kelly in 2003, I believe, without proof I may add, just strong suspicion, that the British State will go to any lengths to keep the truth from being told.

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      2. Heard an interview with an ex SAS guy years ago, not using his real voice, where he said the Brit state could easily end people who were a problem for them, even make it look like suicide in various ways. That was when BBC radio4 was a decent media platform. That was not long after Dr.David Kelly died, who was about to expose that Iraq had no nuclear weapons. 😦

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    2. Yep but I think we know what happened to W. McRae 😦
      There was also a woman scientist and I can’t remember her name damn it, but she did some serious research and reports about dangers of nuclear (waste?) but sadly died in her cottage in Cumbria in very mysterious circumstances.
      😦

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      1. Heard an interview with an ex SAS guy years ago, not using his real voice, where he said the Brit state could easily end people who were a problem for them, even make it look like suicide in various ways. That was when BBC radio4 was a decent media platform. That was not long after Dr.David Kelly died, who was about to expose that Iraq had no nuclear weapons.

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  3. NOT IN OUR BACK DOOR

    ENGLAND WANT TO DUMP ALL NUCLEAR WASTE IN SCOTLAND

    TAKING ALL THE POWER BENEFITS

    LEAVING SCOTS TO MOP UP THE POISONOUS WASTE

    JUST AS HAPPENED IN ALL PREVIOUS NUCLEAR WASTE IN SCOTLAND

    SCOTLAND MUS SAY NO TO ENGLISH CANCER LEFT IN SCOTLAND

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  4. Labour polling at 11%. Not time enough for any of this to happen. Holyrood elections next year. Take their nuclear out of here. Waste of monies. Scotland paying too much for Trident and redundant weaponry.

    BBC £6Billion a year. Half on the estate. Enough to eradicate poverty.

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