Tag: energy

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Could a huge data centre revitalise Ayrshire – or ruin it? How Scotland’s massive water and electricity resources make it the perfect location for an industry which we could, after independence, tax fully

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON BBC Scotland, Glasgow & West today has: Could a huge data centre revitalise Ayrshire – or ruin it? Supporters talk of it revitalising the region, bringing new jobs and investment that would be ploughed back into the community. But the plans have met strong opposition from locals concerned about the impact on the wider area. Some of those opposed have contacted BBC Your Voice, and say the firm has not provided concrete details about a building that would dominate … Continue reading Could a huge data centre revitalise Ayrshire – or ruin it? How Scotland’s massive water and electricity resources make it the perfect location for an industry which we could, after independence, tax fully

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As energy price rises loom, a reminder of why Michael Shanks will not protect us from cancer risks and why Scots would pay far less for electricity after independence

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON On the front page of Scotland on Sunday – Mothballed Hunterston B nuclear site may yet be revived. By whom? Junior Minister Michael Shanks (above left) of course. Here’s a reminder of Shanks’ insignificance: First, electricity costs From stewartb in June 2025: I fear that a majority of the electorate in Scotland still have NO IDEA of – (perhaps even conditioned to have no interest in?) – Scotland’s indigenous energy assets and their potential significance for their own lives and … Continue reading As energy price rises loom, a reminder of why Michael Shanks will not protect us from cancer risks and why Scots would pay far less for electricity after independence

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French owned Somerset nuclear power station delayed by 13 years with construction costs soaring from £18bn to more than £50bn and to produce electricity costing more than 3 times that of wind power

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this: From the Guardian today: Britain’s first new nuclear plant in a generation at the Hinkley Point C site will face further delay, at a cost of €2.5bn to the French utility company EDF. EDF said the first reactor at the site in Somerset will begin operations in 2030, a year later than planned – almost 13 years after construction work began – after a series of delays to the project. The latest … Continue reading French owned Somerset nuclear power station delayed by 13 years with construction costs soaring from £18bn to more than £50bn and to produce electricity costing more than 3 times that of wind power

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‘Major leak at Highland nuclear site triggers hunt for mystery bunkers’ is just latest in years of reported leaks at Dounreay

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. The National today has as story titled “Major leak at Highland nuclear site triggers hunt for mystery bunkers” (with the subtitle or lead referring to a 1960s bunker at Scotland’s Dounreay nuclear site leaking radioactive water). This is an exclusive/special report by the newspaper. The key source underpinning the article is a new internal investigation report from the site operators (Nuclear Restoration Services, or NRS, responsible for Dounreay’s decommissioning and clean-up). This report was obtained and released to The National (specifically the Sunday National) via a freedom of information (FOI) request. … Continue reading ‘Major leak at Highland nuclear site triggers hunt for mystery bunkers’ is just latest in years of reported leaks at Dounreay

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Young Phineas fogs the truth but after two decades away from London party oversight, building standards and regulations in Scotland are generally more strict or demanding than those in England in several key areas

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. In the Guardian today: Even multimillionaires can’t escape Britain’s cowboy builders, it seems. Last week, residents of One Hyde Park, the UK’s most expensive flats, won a £35m court case against the contractor that built their homes. The high court ordered the construction company Laing O’Rourke to fix defective pipework that was discovered to be causing problems in 2014, only three years after the luxury development was completed. At the other end of the economy, tens of thousands of families are facing damp and mould issues also caused by botched building works. A National Audit … Continue reading Young Phineas fogs the truth but after two decades away from London party oversight, building standards and regulations in Scotland are generally more strict or demanding than those in England in several key areas

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Last year, inspectors raised Scottish nuclear plant with proven excess child leukaemia risk to an ‘enhanced level of regulatory attention for safety because of unsatisfactory site performance across numerous areas’ and today we hear UK Government buried ‘200 containers of radioactive waste’ there

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. In the National today: UK Government buries ‘200 containers of radioactive waste’ The location is the Dounreay nuclear site in Scotland. From the Chief Nuclear Inspector’s annual report on Great Britain’s nuclear industry October 2025, page 28: In July 2024, we increased NRS Dounreay to an enhanced level of regulatory attention for safety because of unsatisfactory site performance across numerous areas: the current condition of a number of site assets (such as buildings, electrical systems, steam systems); management and compliance with various aspects of conventional health & safety legislation (such as COMAH and … Continue reading Last year, inspectors raised Scottish nuclear plant with proven excess child leukaemia risk to an ‘enhanced level of regulatory attention for safety because of unsatisfactory site performance across numerous areas’ and today we hear UK Government buried ‘200 containers of radioactive waste’ there

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10 countries already routinely issue iodine tablets to those near nuclear facilities but with the highest cancer rates in world, Scotland, dependent on Westminster, cannot

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. From and Ontario-based news website, nsauga, two days ago, the above and: With potassium pills distributed to residents living in the shadow of one of Durham Region’s two nuclear plants in 2015 set to expire, a batch of replacement pills will be sent to all those living within 10 kilometres of either Pickering or Darlington nuclear generating stations. The initiative, a partnership between Ontario Power Generation, the Durham Health Department and Toronto Emergency Management, will provide residents living near the nuclear stations with replacement potassium iodide (KI) pills. These pills will … Continue reading 10 countries already routinely issue iodine tablets to those near nuclear facilities but with the highest cancer rates in world, Scotland, dependent on Westminster, cannot

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German Minister of Environment rules that mini-reactors of kind proposed by Scottish Labour are ‘not an option’

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Support Talking-up Scotland to keep rebutting the lies almost every day of the year, at https://t.co/xFcIcegHTy Thanks to Dottie for alerting us tothis: From World Nuclear Industry Status Report 1 February 2026: Berlin (energate) – The gap between the hype and industrial reality surrounding nuclear energy is widening. This applies in particular to the smaller nuclear reactors, Small Modular Reactors (SMR). This is the conclusion of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report, which was commissioned by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, among others. According to the … Continue reading German Minister of Environment rules that mini-reactors of kind proposed by Scottish Labour are ‘not an option’

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The Nuclear Regulated Asset Base Levy means Scots will pay ‘nuclear tax’ for nuclear energy consumed in England

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Professor John Robertson OBA You’ll have seen headlines like – ‘SNP has slammed Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar for his silence on Westminster’s “nuclear tax”, which could see Scottish households paying out a total of £300 million over the next decade to fund nuclear projects in England.’ Labour MPs and MSPs are already programmed to deny it and to demonise any who suggest it is true. It is true. The UK Government explicitly plans to fund new nuclear power station building, such as Sizewell C in Suffolk, via the RAB levy.1 What is the RAB levy? It’s a UK-wide charge … Continue reading The Nuclear Regulated Asset Base Levy means Scots will pay ‘nuclear tax’ for nuclear energy consumed in England

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Why the wind doesn’t need to blow all the time – breakthrough in new technology to blow all Scottish Labour arguments for nuclear ‘out of the water’

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EBARGOED UNTIL 15 Dec 2025 00:01 Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Scotland, three days ago: In East Lothian, council leader Norman Hampshire has asked UK ministers to draw up a “characterisation” of the Torness power station site in the hope that it could still be considered for a replacement. The Labour councillor says the closure of Torness without a replacement would be devastating to the community in Dunbar and across Scotland. “There’s a lot of jobs… and all of that feeds into the local economy. So, if Torness isn’t there it’s going to be a huge blow and there’s … Continue reading Why the wind doesn’t need to blow all the time – breakthrough in new technology to blow all Scottish Labour arguments for nuclear ‘out of the water’