Last week, Graham Simpson MSP questioned First Minister John Swinney's stance on nuclear energy. During First Minister's Questions the Conservative MSP relayed a comment from the Nuclear Industry Association, which called the SNP Government's stance on nuclear power "hopelessly ideological and anti-science".
Graham Simpson MSP said: "John Swinney's response to my question about nuclear energy was disappointing. To hear that the Scottish Government has a blanket ban on building new nuclear power stations is a missed opportunity for Scotland.
We need both renewable and nuclear energy to hit net zero. Wind is only available 45% of the time and requires back up from gas, compared to nuclear which is available 90% of the time and is therefore far more reliable.
The SNP government's anti-nuclear energy strategy has more than doubled gas consumption since 2015. After recent announcements about the SNP government's embarrassing record on greenhouse gas emissions, I am shocked that the First Minister is not willing to consider the potential that nuclear offers, both in terms of saving carbon and thousands of jobs for Scotland."
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