Scotland is unlikely to join in with the forthcoming funding for nuclear power, with acting Energy Secretary Gillian Martin telling the BBC that it will focus on renewable energy.

The SNP has long been opposed to nuclear as a solution, but other parties in Scotland are not against its use. Currently Scotland has one nuclear plant, commissioned in 1988 and due for closure in 2030.

For the SNP the preferred consistent energy source is hydro, to supplement wind and others, and it is supporting the Acorn carbon capture and storage project which is tipped for extra funding in the Spending Review.

Critics of the renewables plan point to the future demand from intensive sectors, such as data centres, and believe that the lack of more energy would prevent investment and also slow the route to net-zero. With nuclear sectors excluded, coupled to the SNP’s stance on defence such as its decision to withhold a £2.5m Scottish Enterprise grant for a Clyde-based submarine welding centre that would reduce carbon emissions, one could see it as a clear hierarchy of principles, or cakeism.

Obviously, nuclear and other generated power can be transported over an effective grid from a nuclear England to Scotland, but that grid, as often reported here, is not yet in a state to provide this service.

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