POLL RESULT: Vast majority back plans for nuclear fusion prototype plant at Dounreay
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Readers of the Caithness Courier and John O'Groat Journal have given overwhelming backing to the idea of a nuclear fusion plant in the far north.
If it went ahead, the development would be the world's first commercial nuclear fusion power station.
The technology is in its infancy, but involves replicating the process that powers the sun by merging atoms and turning hydrogen into helium, releasing huge amounts of energy.
Highland Council is set to consider a potential bid for Dounreay to host the power plant on Thursday.
The local nuclear facility is one of two sites in Scotland preparing applications to construct a multi-billion-pound prototype reactor.
The Dounreay application is being made by the Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership.
In an online poll hosted on the John O'Groat website last week, 89 per cent of respondents said they were behind the idea, while 11 per cent said they would not welcome the development.
There has been further support for the idea from the Dounreay Stakeholder Group and Caithness Chamber of Commerce.
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- Overwhelming support for nuclear fusion plant idea, says Dounreay Stakeholder Group chairman
- Dounreay in potential bid to host world's first nuclear fusion power station
