I REFER to the article headed “Scotland, so rich in wind and water, has no need for Johnson’s latest nuclear money-making wheeze” by SNP MP Douglas Chapman (Sunday National, December 20).

Highlands Against Nuclear Transport (HANT), which was set up in 2013 to raise awareness of the high risk transport of nuclear waste from Dounreay to Sellafield by rail and sea and Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) by air, is encouraged to see the SNP position opposing nuclear weapons and nuclear power being highlighted.

However, until Scotland becomes independent and as long as the Conservatives are in power with energy as a reserved matter, HANT maintains that the Scottish Government has to remain vigilant about UK plans to bury nuclear waste in a DGR (Deep Geological Depository) and to build SMRs (Small Modular Reactors) in Scotland.

READ MORE: Scotland, so rich in wind and water, has no need for Johnson’s latest nuclear money-making wheeze

Nuclear power is not green and carbon-free, as maintained by its supporters, as it is the most expensive of all technologies to build, risks catastrophic accidents, will produce five million tonnes of radioactive waste, is a security threat and the uranium used is both a limited resource and contaminates the environment.

As recently as 2015, Nirex (the then nuclear disposal company) identified five sites in Scotland for burial of nuclear waste in Caithness, under sea off Hunterston and the islands of Fuday and Sandray in the Sound of Barra.

And the recent investment of £205 million by the Tory government in small modular reactor development makes no sense as the technology planned is unproven, they are very expensive to produce and will continue to generate nuclear waste for which the UK has no depository site agreed or plan for a facility that has to last for at least 100,000 years.

Even the government’s own press release states: “If successful, small modular reactor units could be deployed in the UK by the early 2030s” – the main beneficiaries will be the eight private companies involved in the research consortium.

And even in the Highlands, Highland Council, in a motion by Caithness Conservative Councillor Struan Mackie in March 2019, proposed that “the Scottish Government send a message to the nuclear industry that Highland has the ‘skill, public support and pro-active partnership working’ to embrace the next generation of energy production such as small modular reactors”.

So unless there is a concerted campaign by SNP MPs and MSPs and Scottish Green MSPs, together with campaigning groups, to prevent any nuclear developments in Scotland, the UK Government will impose them regardless of public opinion.

Tor Justad
Chairperson, HANT (Highlands Against Nuclear Transport)

I WELCOME the opportunity to steer the attention of The National’s readers onto the cheerful subject of planning for a green Scotland in the near future, which is provided by Brian Clark of Dunfermline’s letter on dams (Letters, December 23). The best example lies on his doorstep. If the Firth of Forth were controlled on the line of the Inchkeith by a barrage, this would provide an answer to future problems of rising world sea levels and consequent increased population in Scotland.

It would protect both sides of the Firth upstream without the need for coastal defences; provide electric power; create road, rail and tram links across the Firth direct through Fife; provide a deep-sea Euro-port by way of locks; and open up the north bank of the Firth for the building of a twin city to Edinburgh. In lucky Scotland this applies to all the firths.

READ MORE: We need coastal storage power stations to harness the wind and rain

The subject of hydrogen as a fuel was reported on the day before (£100m to help develop hydrogen power. December 22). I would like more details on a fuel once treated with doubt. Your piece states: “Hydrogen can be used as an alternative to natural gas to transfer and store energy.” As I run a vehicle on natural gas, the step from one to the other would not be too big, and preferable to involvement with battery technology. A problem with hydrogen is the tank has to be extremely strong. Would I add to the gaiety of nations by suggesting that the safety valve be on the roof, as on the puffing billy, as we once termed the steam traction engine?

Iain W D Forde
Scotlandwell

THROUGHOUT the independence debate, the Scottish media report virtually nothing from the independent country next door: the Republic of Ireland.

Last week it was announced that Ireland is second only to Norway, and joint-equal to Switzerland, on a United Nations annual ranking of 189 countries measured according to average longevity, education and income. The measure puts Ireland ahead of countries including Germany (6), Sweden (7), Australia (8) the UK (13).

Overall, Ireland’s human development score has increased 23.5% since these UN rankings began in 1990. The Irish economy has almost doubled since 1990, but the biggest driver was actually education. Average life expectancy at birth was 74.8% in Ireland in 1990 and has risen to 82.3, while the average years of schooling were 9.7 and are now 12.7.

Why does the Scottish media not carry such news reports from next door?

Councillor Tom Johnston (SNP)
North Lanarkshire Council