Hunterston B nuclear reactor to restart

One of the two current reactors at the Hunterston B nuclear power plant will restart after it was shut down last year due to cracks in graphite bricks in the reactor cores. Another reactor was not granted permission by the regulator to restart.

Dr Richard Dixon Director of Friends of the Earth Scotland commented,

“Nuclear energy is dangerous, unaffordable and unreliable. For some electricity today, we are leaving a thousand generations of future humans dangerous radioactive waste.

“Restarting the Hunterston reactors is definitely not worth the risk. Most people in Scotland will not even have noticed these reactors at Hunterston have been offline for so long, as dependable renewable energy has more than made up for the difference. Renewables had another record-breaking first quarter of 2019 supplying nine out of ten households in Scotland.

“The nuclear industry is doing a great job of showing how terrible a bet nuclear is. The industry is almost unique in that every new reactor costs more than the last, while everything else gets cheaper, including offshore wind power which is now coming in at just over half the price of nuclear for a unit of energy. “

“The Scottish and UK Governments should be investing in building the renewable energy economy, creating decent green jobs and delivering a just transition for workers and communities as we move away from dirty energy.”
ENDS