Nuclear blast for wind power

AN INFLUENTIAL lobbying group for the nuclear industry has launched a scathing attack on the Scottish Executive’s proposals to increase its use of renewable energy sources, denouncing them as "energy illiterate" and a "blueprint for economic disaster".

Supporters of Nuclear Energy - whose secretary is Sir Bernard Ingham, Margaret Thatcher’s former press spokesman - has dismissed the Executive’s plans to increase the proportion of Scotland’s electricity generated by renewables such as wind and wave power from 30 to 40 per cent by 2020, as unworkable "green tokenism". In particular, the group called into question plans for wind power, which it claimed was "intermittent, unreliable and uncompetitive".

In the wake of the crisis surrounding the troubled nuclear supplier British Energy, which has been bailed out by the government to the tune of 650 million to avoid insolvency, the group also has written to the Prime Minister, urging him to support nuclear power.

In the letter, a copy of which has been seen by The Scotsman, Sir Bernard complains of the "discrimination" against nuclear power generation, the "tokenism" in energy policy that supports wind power, and the "over-reliance" on imported gas.

Last night, green campaigners criticised the group’s attempt to discredit renewable sources.

"Bernard Ingham is well-known as being prominently pro-nuclear and is the most vociferous anti-wind power advocate," said Kevin Dunion, the chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland.

"The only way he sees a lifeline for nuclear power is if renewable energy sources are killed off.

"We wholeheartedly support the Executive’s plans as good for the environment and good for the economy."

Mr Dunion said relying on nuclear power would be "an economic disaster".

He said: "The idea that renewable energy has hidden costs and nuclear doesn’t is laughable. The market has decided that nuclear energy is uncompetitive. We are already facing a bill of 4 million and rising to clean up Dounreay, and no-one will write a blank cheque for nuclear ever again."

Sir Bernard’s letter to Tony Blair claims to set out a "new approach to energy policy" in the light of what it refers to as "British Energy’s problems".

It argues that the additional costs of reprocessing nuclear fuel, which it says serves the national interest instead of storing and disposing of it, should be borne by the taxpayer.

The nuclear energy industry, the group insists, should be excluded from paying the so-called climate change levy in the Kyoto agreement, as it produces no greenhouse gases. It also urges Mr Blair to "recognise that the national interest can only be imperilled by over-reliance on imported gas" from such volatile places as the Middle East and Russia which would "put the nation’s economy seriously at risk".

Sir Bernard also alls on the government to make clear in the white paper that the national interest "can only be served by a mix of reliable, competitive energy sources including a very substantial nuclear power industry".

The letter ends by asking the Prime Minister to "launch a campaign to correct the misrepresentations and distortions about nuclear power which have been perpetrated over a substantial number of years by those whose alleged concern for the environment actually imperils the economy, jobs and the very environment which they profess to protect."

A spokeswoman for the Executive said: "The Scottish capacity for generating energy from renewable sources is one of the largest in Europe, amounting to 75 per cent of the entire UK installed generating capacity. If we are serious about tackling climate change then we have to exploit this resource to the full."