Letter: Nuclear station would kill off T in Park

Reluctant as I am to intrude on the current exchange of views between David Balfour and Malcolm Parkin (Letters, 1 and 2 August) regarding the potential siting of nuclear power stations in lowland Scotland, may I make a few observations?

As one of the owners of Malcolm Parkin's preferred site, the former RAF Balado Bridge Airfield, I put his suggestion to a colleague who used to work in the nuclear power industry.

My colleague put forward a few initial thoughts. First, Balado is about 135 metres above sea level and a plant of 1,000 megawatts would require in the region of 250 mega litres of cooling water per hour. Unfortunately, there is not sufficient water in Loch Leven and there might possibly be a few minor concerns raised by Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, as well as local residents.

Second, the best solution would be to run pipelines alongside the M90 to the firth of Tay at Dundee. This would require four 2.5 metre diameter pipes out from the site and another four similar return pipes.

Third, the pump power requirement would take all the power from the station, not leaving enough to stage T in the Park on the Balado site.

While I personally am content with a mix of power sources - that is, renewable through wind turbines and a fixed base of nuclear power - perhaps Malcolm could reconcile the following: if wind turbines are detrimental to the country's tourist industry, how does he square the loss of an estimated annual tourism related income of some 30 million through the staging of T in the Park at Balado, by building a nuclear power facility?

Douglas Alexander

Balado Park

Kinross

David Balfour (Letters, 2 August) did not read my letter correctly. I said we could have two nuclear power stations, and that Dounreay would process their waste.

If his wonderful wind turbines are the answer to our problems, why do they have to be subsidised to be built, and then when built fail to produce enough electricity?

The plain fact is that if the wind is inadequate, one million wind turbines would not produce any more electricity than 100, so building more is just a waste of money.

And if he doesn't think they are a deterrent to tourism, why not start wind farm tours as a Scottish attraction?

Malcolm Parkin

Gamekeepers Road

Kinnesswood

Kinross