Chamber and committees

Providing a public subsidy for the nuclear power industry is a reserved matter for the UK Government. However, the Scottish Government does not support new nuclear development and recognises the need for a balanced approach to encouraging the development of a mix of low carbon technologies to meet demand in Scotland.

Our policy position on UK Government measures to incentivise technological development and security of supply for the future, is set out in our consultation responses on the Electricity Market Reform White Paper dated 16 March and 12 July 2011:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/Infrastructure/Grid-Connections/EMR-consultation-UK/EMR-consultation-UK.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to write to the UK Government to oppose life extensions at Hunterston B or Torness nuclear power stations.

We are committed to enhancing Scotland's generation advantage based on renewables, thermal with carbon capture and storage as well as energy efficiency as the best long term solution to Scotland's energy security.

We recognise the need for possible life extensions for existing nuclear power stations in the short term to help security of supply, but we are opposed to the development of new nuclear power stations in Scotland.

The Scotland Act 1998 reserves the control of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction to the UK Government. The Scottish Government therefore has no competence in relation to nuclear weapons.

The Scotland Act 1998 reserves the control of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction to the UK Government. The Scottish Government therefore has no competence in relation to nuclear weapons and the introduction of any legislation aimed at the presence, control or transportation of nuclear weapons would be outwith legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Government has set out clearly its firm opposition to nuclear weapons and has on several occasions called on the UK Government to commit to the withdrawal of Trident and to cancel plans for its replacement.

The Scottish Government has not however discussed timescales for removing nuclear weapons from Scotland with the United Kingdom Government.

On 21 November 2011 the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority announced that it plans to transport Dounreay Fast Reactor breeder material, which contains plutonium, from Dounreay to Sellafield by road and rail for reprocessing. This plutonium is not considered to be waste.

The safety and security of this material are reserved matters and regulated by the Office for Nuclear Regulation.

It is for SEPA, the Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator to satisfy themselves that there are no environmental or safety risks from the decommissioned and defuelled nuclear powered submarines currently berthed at Rosyth.

Nevertheless, the Scottish Government have significant concerns with the findings of the 2010 Assurance Report from the Defence Nuclear Environment and Safety Board. While we note that the Report states that none of the issues covered in the Report, including the decommissioning and disposal of the nuclear powered submarines, present an immediate safety concern, collectively ‘they pose the risk that it will become increasingly difficult to maintain that the defence nuclear programmes are being managed with due regard to the protection of the workforce, the public and the environment’.

We are seeking clarity from the Ministry of Defence on the steps that are being taken to address the serious issues identified in that Report.

Enforcement action is primarily a matter for the relevant planning authority.

Planning enforcement is primarily the responsibility of the planning authority within whose area development takes place. Monitoring and enforcement of planning conditions are therefore matters for Aberdeenshire Council as the relevant planning authority.