Campaign groups hit back over claims nuclear power is cheaper and more reliable
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Anti-nuclear campaigners say that Caithness could drive the "green energy" revolution thanks to the skills in the region – largely due to the decommissioning of the Dounreay plant.
The former nuclear reactor was built as a test site in the 1950s and ceased generating in 1994, since when there have been ongoing calls to bring back some form of active nuclear plant to the county to provide jobs for people in the area.
Wick and East Caithness councillor Andrew Jarvie said last month that it was time for the SNP-led government to ditch its opposition to new nuclear after a breakthrough in fusion experiments.
He claimed the region was missing out on skilled jobs and future opportunities "because of the SNP and Greens' illogical opposition to one of the most reliable and cheap sources of energy".
Cllr Jarvie also said that renewables were increasing energy bills due to the green levy and claimed: “If all of our electricity came from even the most expensive nuclear plant in the UK, our bills would be 40 per cent lower."
But Highlands Against Nuclear Transport (HANT) and the Scottish Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) hit back, saying Cllr Jarvie was "completely mistaken" in his assertion that nuclear is the "most reliable and cheapest" source of energy.
The groups argue that the focus should be on a mix of renewable energy sources and improved insulation for homes and public buildings – and say Caithness is in the perfect position to help develop those industries.
"New nuclear power stations are expensive and always delivered late," the groups stated. "Hinkley Point C now has a revised budget of £26 billion (and that’s at 2015 prices) and it is going ever upwards; and Sizewell C could cost up to £42 billion, according to estimates from Greenwich University.
"Hinkley will be over 10 years late, whilst EPR reactor plants being built by EDF in France and Finland are being delivered up to 14 years behind schedule and massively over-budget."
They also said that nuclear power plants are not reliable, citing figures that show that each UK AGR reactor was offline on average for a total of almost 187 days in 2021.
"In the future, we will all have to pay for the cost of new nuclear power plant construction through a new nuclear levy being applied by the UK government on our future electricity bills," they argued. "But as Hinkley is being built at EDF’s expense the cost of construction will be recouped through the price of the electricity that the plant will supply to the grid. In October 2013, EDF struck a deal with the UK government to sell its electricity for £92.50 per megawatt hour, but this was index-linked so at current prices this would be £125.29.
"Contrast this to the price agreed in the latest Contracts for Difference auction for the supply of electricity from Scotland’s biggest future offshore wind project, Inch Cape off the Angus coast. This will be £37.35 per megawatt hour in 2026/7, when it comes onstream, about four times cheaper than electricity supplied by Hinkley Point C."
HANT and NFLA also said that offshore wind has other advantages. "Unlike nuclear, it does not come with the massive price tag of decommissioning radioactive plants, like Dounreay, or dealing with nuclear waste; costs that must be borne by the public."
The groups added: "Although Councillor Jarvie has suggested that the increased energy bills faced by households are down to ‘green levies’, wholesale energy prices in the market are in fact tied to the price of gas, even where that energy is not generated from gas itself.
"Following the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, wholesale gas prices soared, leading to a large rise in the retail energy prices charged by all suppliers to domestic and business consumers. If the UK’s energy was solely sourced from renewables, prices would be significantly lower."
They referred to a recent report from the Energy and Climate Change Intelligence Unit, which found that if previous Conservative-led governments had insulated more homes, expanded renewable energy faster and installed more heat pumps, households would have saved significant sums on domestic heating bills, in some cases amounting to up to £1750 this year.
Tor Justad, chairman of HANT, said: “Scotland should focus on generating its energy from a range of renewable technologies – onshore, as well as offshore, wind, solar, geothermal, tidal and hydro, but it needs first to ensure that every domestic home and public building is well-insulated to reduce the demand for energy and to lower customer bills.
“Caithness could be at the heart of that project, creating new businesses and new jobs for many local people to work in insulation and renewables, particularly for those skilled workers who will be seeking re-employment when decommissioning ends at Dounreay in 2033.
"Our region could be at the forefront of driving forward the vision of a green energy future for Scotland.”
