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Written by Steuart Campbell
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Saturday, 13 October 2007 |
SNP's nuclear myths
If, as Jim Mather alleges (Platform, 10 October), the UK government has already made up its mind to allow new nuclear power stations, then it is only fair to point out that he and the SNP have made up their mind not to do so.
However, while the government's position is soundly based on facts, the SNP's position appears to be based on myths (nuclear power is not more costly than other generation methods, it does not harm the environment, its "full carbon cost" is just the same as that of wind power generation, nuclear waste is active for only a few hundred years and the fuel, whatever its cost, constitutes only a small proportion of the operating cost).
One of the weirdest myths is Mr Mather's assumption that "our money" would be used to build new stations and deal with their waste. No public funds would be used to build or operate the new stations. How come Scotland's energy minister does not know this?
Steuart Campbell
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