Union bosses have accused the Scottish Government of being “rooted in the past” over its veto of a new fleet of nuclear power stations to be built north of the Border.
The Herald revealed that the UK Government has given up attempting to impose nuclear power developments on Scotland, with SNP ministers continuing to oppose the energy source under current technology.
UK Government energy minister Andrew Bowie told The Herald that the SNP and Greens have a "Luddite mentality" over the use of nuclear power and labelled fears over the cost of the technology "ridiculous".
Read more: UK Government gives up on imposing nuclear energy on Scotland
Despite the opposition by the Scottish Government, under the UK Government’s plans to build new reactors, nuclear energy could still be used to power Scotland due to the UK’s single power grid.
Only one nuclear power station remains in Scotland at Torness, but SNP ministers have a long-held objection to new reactors being built north of the Border.
Energy policy is reserved to the UK Government but Scottish ministers can veto any proposals through devolved planning rules.
Read more: SNP Government to continue opposition to nuclear power 'to keep energy bills low'
But union bosses have reacted with anger after The Herald revealed the UK Government has given up its attempts to roll out the power source in Scotland after resistance from SNP ministers.
The stand-off with union bosses creates a headache for the Scottish Government amid attempts to keep workers onside in its just transition plans to move energy workers from the North Sea oil and gas sector to renewable energy industries.
The STUC Congress in Dundee last month backed a motion from GMB Scotland urging ministers to build an energy strategy on a mix of sources, including nuclear.
Gary Cook, the GMB union’s organiser in engineering and manufacturing, has warned that the Scottish Government’s opposition to nuclear is needlessly dogmatic and risks sabotaging opportunities to secure a mixture of energy sources while the transition to renewables continues.
Read more: SNP ministers 'putting jobs at risk' over refusal to open nuclear power talks with Rolls-Royce
He claimed that nuclear power is cheap, dependable and safe with the potential to create skilled jobs while large-scale storage technology for solar and wind power is still being developed.
But nuclear developments take decades to come on stream.
Mr Cook said: “The opposition of Scottish ministers to this technology is ideological and rooted in the past.
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“The failure to recognise the potential benefits of nuclear means Scotland is being left behind with an energy strategy that is increasingly at the mercy of international forces beyond our control.”
He accused SNP ministers of wilfully dismissing the case for nuclear as part of its energy strategy and said small, modular nuclear reactors must be part of planning.
Previous SNP net zero secretary, Michael Matheson, last year told MSPs that the SNP’s opposition to new nuclear power under current technology includes small modular reactors.
SNP Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan said: "Nuclear, in current technologies, will never present value for money and it has an environment price tag that takes decades, even longer, to clean up.
"So strategically, we do have to move away from hydrocarbons that are incompatible - unlimited extraction is incompatible with net zero.
"But we have to invest in our future energy mix on the basis of renewables and hydrogen."
A Welsh Affairs Committee report on nuclear energy in Wales, published yesterday, suggests that new nuclear projects, including at Wylfa, could be a ‘game-changer’ for the north Wales economy.
Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association said: “Wales should be in the vanguard of the British nuclear programme, with two world-class nuclear sites ready to bring highly-skilled jobs for young people, major investment and reliable clean power to communities up and down the country.”
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