Nuclear power vital to back up green energy, says Murphy

Published Date: 16 February 2009
By Andy Philip

SCOTLAND cannot rely on renewable energy alone and must turn to nuclear power to safeguard future electricity production, the Scottish Secretary said yesterday.
Jim Murphy said it was crucial to invest in renewable energy – such as tidal and wind power – but only as part of a wider mix. Asked if it was possible for the country to become self-sufficient from renewable sources, Mr Murphy said: "I don't believe it is."The Scottish Government is opposed to any new nuclear power stations, which puts it at odds with Westminster.Today, Mr Murphy is due to address a nuclear conference in Edinburgh. He said: "It's crucial we have an enormous expansion in investment and deliver our renewables – wind and wave and solar in particular. But in itself that's not enough. We need nuclear as part of safe, environmentally sensitive electricity production in future."He said the UK should deliver enough energy to power as a whole, not in competition between a nuclear-fuelled England and a nuclear-free Scotland."In the long term, I would like to see Scotland as an enormous world centre of renewables but also with nuclear as part of carbon-free electricity production here in Scotland and across the UK," he added.