© Paul Campbell/PA Wire 
New nuclear facilities could be on the cards for Scotland if the Labour party has its say in it.
UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said he was “glad to say” the Scottish Labour group supports building nuclear production which could deliver a change policy in next year’s Holyrood elections.
Speaking in Peterhead when he announced plans to back the Acorn carbon capture and storage (CCS) proposal with £200 million investment from government, Miliband said: “I don’t see why we shouldn’t have nuclear in Scotland.”
The Scottish National Party (SNP)-led Scottish Government has banned the development of new nuclear, with EDF’s Torness near Edinburgh expected to the last power station operating when it closes in 2035.
However, pressure has started to mount after Miliband hailed a £14.2 billion to complete Sizewell C in Suffolk, heralding a “golden age of clean energy abundance” in the UK. Another £2.5bn allocated from the budget of Great British Energy was also allocated for Rolls-Royce’s small modular reactor (SMR) programme.
SMRs being considered in England include a project in Cumbria near the Sellafield site which benefits from grid connections. In 2011, the Conservative government identified eight sites for large reactors at Bradwell, Hartlepool, Heysham, Hinkley Point, Oldbury, Sellafield, Sizewell and Wylfa.
Unions are calling on the Scottish Government to end its resistance to new nuclear power.
Louise Gilmour, from GMB Scotland, has written to Energy Minister Gillian Martin calling for an urgent rethink.
She said: “Amidst broken promises on a green jobs revolution, the Scottish Government cannot afford to scoff at the offering of nuclear energy on the table. An offer that would in large part be funded by the UK Government. The ban against new nuclear – especially SMRs – must be lifted.”
At St Fergus where the CCS project is set to be based, Miliband said voters would get the chance to choose nuclear power investment in Scottish elections due in 2026.
“Obviously in the end that’s going to be a choice for the Scottish people at the Scottish elections,” he said.
“But I am really excited about the possibilities of all these clean energy technologies because we need all of them when it comes to tackling the climate crisis, creating good jobs and creating energy security.”
The energy secretary also took aim at rivals Reform and the Conservatives.
Reform leader Nigel Farage has branded net zero aims “utter madness” which has been met with sympathy from an increasing share of voters in recent outings.
However, Miliband insists his government’s clean power plan offered more benefits and that Reform is “turning their back” on investments being made including at Peterhead.
“Those parties, whether it is Conservative or Reform, that turn their back on net zero, they are turning their back on Acorn,” he said.
“If they want to turn their back on Acorn, well they can do that. We’re not going to do that, we are backing Acorn.
“And by backing Acorn as part of net zero, I think that is actually what the people of Scotland and the people of the United Kingdom want, which is they do want to do the right thing on climate change and they want to do it in a way that creates jobs.”
Speaking about the CCS project at Peterhead he said there are “huge opportunities” for the plant to “be the place where the rest of Europe transports its CO2”, adding that this “means huge extra job opportunities” in the area.
Partners have claimed proposals could unleash £7billion of investment in the north-east of Scotland.
However, proposals to develop CCS in the region have failed to attract government support for a decade.
“We know that the North Sea can be the global centre, the European centre, for carbon capture and storage and Acorn is going to make it happen,” Miliband said.
Ensuring Acorn gets support from the Treasury had been “non-negotiable” as government departments vied to secure backing in the spending review.
He added: “I really understand the frustration most of all of the people of Scotland, to say the previous government promise Acorn but kept pushing it back. That is why we were so keen to deliver.
“When I thought about my priorities for the spending review, obviously you have discussions with the Treasury, I thought Acorn is a non-negotiable. It’s got to happen because we frankly owe the people of Scotland that promise and it’s also in our national interest.”
