Nuclear faults cause 24% drop in electricity output

Published on Saturday 5 January 2008 19:28

ELECTRICITY generated by nuclear power has fallen by a quarter in Scotland because of poor reliability, figures have revealed.

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform found that electricity generated from nuclear power in Scotland decreased by 24%, mainly due to "unplanned outages". The figures came as the UK Government prepares to give the go-ahead to a new generation of nuclear power stations.

Jim Mather, Holyrood's Energy Minister, said the problems at Hunterston B power station in Ayrshire and Torness in East Lothian proved that nuclear power was unreliable and unnecessary, and reinforced the SNP's policy of concentrating on green and renewable sources of energy.

But Labour peer and nuclear expert Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan said Scotland should keep nuclear energy.

"There is no renewable form of energy which is not interrupted, affordable and can sustain the needs of mass consumption 24/7," he said.