ONE of Scotland's leading scientists has attacked SNP plans to block any new nuclear power stations north of the border, warning that the country could face a crippling "energy gap".
Professor Wilson Sibbett, who was Scotland's first chief adviser on science, spoke out after First Minister Alex Salmond declared last week that the country could cope without its two current nuclear stations.
The decorated scientist warned that t
he SNP had now left itself open to "horrendous" political flak if, within a few years, it was no longer able to produce enough electricity to sustain itself.
His comments come after Sir David King, the UK Government's former chief scientist, said that any policy that failed to use technology to address climate change – including nuclear power – was one of "utter hopelessness".
Gordon Brown announced last week that the UK would press ahead with a new generation of nuclear power stations, claiming that the carbon-free energy they produced would help Britain to meet its targets to cut its reliance on fossil fuels.
But environmental campaigners and the SNP condemned the move. Ministers in Scotland say they will use their planning powers to block any new developments north of the border, claiming that a revolution in wind, wave and tidal power will ensure the country can cope.
Professor Sibbett recently retired from heading the Scottish Science Advisory Committee, created in 2002, which advises Scottish Executive ministers on scientific issues of strategic importance. He said: "While renewables have potential, it is mostly just potential at the moment that they offer. The SNP view is all very well in theory but in reality it doesn't work. Our established nuclear technology has a lot of things going for it."
Asked whether Scotland would still be self-sufficient in electricity production, Professor Sibbett said: "There could well be an energy gap. Even the most avid anti-nuclear SNP person will not like it if the lights are switched off."
Roger Crofts, who led an inquiry into nuclear energy by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, agreed yesterday, saying that the claim by Salmond that Scotland could generate all the power it needed from non-nuclear sources was "disingenuous".
A Scottish Government source said: "Given our huge green energy advantages, it would be madness to go down the road of new nuclear power stations. Scotland's energy future is bright."
