Ukraine Russia crisis: 'Scottish Government should rethink stance on nuclear power during war', says UK minister Greg Hands

The UK's energy minister said he would “welcome” the Scottish Government re-thinking their stance on nuclear power as he claimed “there is never a better time” than during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth, Greg Hands said he would welcome the Scottish Government "rethinking on nuclear" during war in Ukraine (Photo: Michal Wachucik/ PA).

Greg Hands said the war in Ukraine gave the Scottish Government a “pretext” to end its block on new nuclear power stations.

The Scottish Government said it was “absolutely clear” in its opposition to building new nuclear power plants and was instead working towards a net zero approach that would “offer many new opportunities”.

In an interview with the BBC on Monday morning, Mr Hands said: "There are already very good reasons to think again because nuclear is going to be a big part of our energy future to provide a base low.

"But I think the Russian invasion of Ukraine should hopefully have given them a pretext to have a rethink.

"I would welcome the Scottish Government now having a rethink on nuclear. There is never a better time to bring more nuclear power to Scotland.”

The Scottish Government said the cost and time in developing new nuclear technology in Scotland would “push up household bills”.

However, Mr Hands denied there were “reasonable objections" to nuclear.

The energy minister said: "We have a really strong safety regime in this country. The Office of Nuclear Regulation is one of the best nuclear regulators in the world.

"When it comes to cost, we’re passing legislation through the UK Parliament at the moment which will reduce the cost using a regulated asset based model, which I would like to see the SNP support. That actually reduces the cost of new nuclear.”

The Scottish Government has since rejected the call, saying “significant growth in renewables, storage, hydrogen and carbon capture provides the best pathway to net zero by 2045”.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “New nuclear power will take years, if not decades, to become operational and will also be expensive, pushing up household bills.

“The Scottish Government is absolutely clear in our opposition to the building of new traditional nuclear fission energy plants in Scotland under current technologies.

“We believe that significant growth in renewables, storage, hydrogen and carbon capture provides the best pathway to net zero by 2045, and will deliver the decarbonisation we need to see across industry, heat and transport.

“The transition to net zero will offer many new opportunities for highly-skilled, well-paid jobs across the energy sector for industry experts, apprentices and graduates. Scotland has long been the centre of expertise in energy innovation and this expertise will prove crucial as we work to capture the opportunities the transition to a net zero economy presents.

“We recognise that planning will be crucial to ensure that economic and social opportunities from the transition are not missed. Our National Just Transition Planning framework sets out the consistent, ambitious approach we will take to developing transition plans.

"We have committed to delivering our first Just Transition Plan as part of the forthcoming refreshed Scottish Energy Strategy, and will work in partnership with businesses, workers and communities to ensure this provides the certainty needed for investment in our net zero journey.”

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