UK Governments set to clash over nuclear power policy.

Implications: The SNP, Green and Liberal Democrat Parties all campaigned against more nuclear power stations in Scotland in the lead up to the May 3 election. A recent poll suggested more than 72% of newly elected member of the Scottish Parliament were against building any more nuclear power stations in Scotland. Whilst UK energy policy is a matter reserved for the Westminster Parliament, decisions on planning and location of new power stations in Scotland is matter for the Scottish Parliament

Analysis:  

The Dounreay and Chapelcross nuclear plants in Scotland have closed during the past decade and are being de-commissioned. The Hunterston 'B' nuclear station is currently set to close in 2011, leaving only the Torness plant that is licensed to operate until 2023.

A series of new nuclear plants in UK would be expected to locate at least one such plant in Scotland, but the anti-nuclear feeling in Scotland will resist such a move.

The Labour Westminster Government and the Scottish SNP led Parliament look set to be a logger heads on new nuclear plants, yet Scotland needs a balanced mix of electricity generating plants.

Scotland is rich in renewable energy resources, but there is a need for firm power generation, provided by fossil fuelled or nuclear generating plants. The two Scottish coal-fired plants at Longannet and Cockenzie were commissioned in 1973 and 1966, and will need considerable investment to keep operating and comply with emissions legislation.