East Kilbride MP calls for Scotland 'to lead the way' in nuclear energy revival
East Kilbride and Strathaven MP Joani Reid has called for Scotland 'to lead the way' in a nuclear energy revival.
However, the MP warned that the jobs and investment new nuclear would bring would require the SNP to leave government in Holyrood.
Sir Keir Starmer promised there would be no more 'dithering' about backing nuclear power as the UK Government committed to the Sizewell C plant and the development of new small modular reactors (SMRs).
The Prime Minister said the 'change of mindset' would help free the UK from reliance on international fossil fuel markets and prevent price spikes such as those in the wake of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves signed off on £14.2 billion of investment to build the new Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk, while Rolls-Royce has been named as the preferred bidder to build SMRs in a programme backed by £2.5 billion of taxpayers' cash.
Speaking to Lanarkshire Live, Joani said: 'Scotland could play a part in this nuclear renaissance – even be in the lead – if only the SNP were out of government.
'Everyday Scots rely on the certainty that nuclear brings by using electricity generated at Torness in East Lothian. That plant's record on safety and security speaks for itself: part of Scotland's great nuclear engineering heritage.
'The SNP have no sensible answer to the question of how to ensure security of supply when the wind doesn't blow or the sun doesn't shine. In England and Wales the Labour government understands that the success of renewables needs to be underpinned by low-carbon nuclear.
'In Scotland the SNP seems to be hoping for some sort of miracle that will make their preferred technologies like tidal power something other than around twice as expensive as nuclear.
'Let's get the jobs and skills in Scotland with a nuclear renaissance and say cheerio to the SNP's blockade of progress.'
However, the SNP have hit out at the UK Governmment for refusing to commit a penny to the Scottish Carbon Capture Acorn project and instead to spend cash on nuclear energy.
The party's energy spokesperson, Dave Doogan MP, said: 'Yet more billions has been committed to English nuclear projects, yet we have no investment in the Acorn Carbon Capture project, Grangemouth has been shut down and Westminster's fiscal regime has ruined North-East energy jobs - Scotland isn't just an afterthought, it's barely a thought at all.
'The evidence is clear that nuclear is extortionate, takes decades to build and the toxic waste is a risk to local communities - Scotland's future is in renewables, carbon capture and links to Europe, not more money for white elephants.'
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