Time to think again on nuclear power

May 1 2009 Irvine Herald

LOCAL MP Brian Donohoe criticised the Scottish Government in the Irvine Herald last week for its position of being against any new nuclear power stations being built in Scotland.

I am not a natural supporter of the SNP-led Scottish Government, however I feel that their opposition to any new building of nuclear power stations is the correct position to take.

I would give the following reasons for supporting the Scottish Government on this issue:

1 - There are major problems with the storage of waste generated by nuclear power stations. If a decision was taken to build new nuclear power stations we would add to the waste problem and leave an even more dangerous legacy to future generations.

2 - Scotland has huge potential to develop energy from renewable resources. We need money to go into renewable energy research and development rather than new nuclear power stations.

3 - Building new nuclear power stations will take money away from the development of other productive areas of the economy. New Labour politicians who support new nuclear power stations should think again. While they are thinking about nuclear power stations they should also start to speak out against the cost of replacing the current Trident nuclear weapons system, which their government seems hell bent on replacing at the cost of billions of pounds which could be much better spent on decent things like housing, education and helping people affected by the current recession.

Arthur West,

Secretary of Ayrshire CND Group