Just outside Dunbar, a short drive from Edinburgh, sits Torness nuclear power station. In its 40 or so years of operation, it has produced more than 300 terawatts hours of zero-carbon electricity – enough to power every single home in Scotland for 36 years.
Torness was set to close in three years, but received a two-year stay-of-execution from the nuclear regulator. There are hopes that a further extension is possible, yet most industry experts expect Scotland’s last nuclear power station to close before 2035.
When that eventually happens, Scotland will be without nuclear power for the first time since 1959. And when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining, to keep the lights on Scotland will have a choice: keep burning fossil fuels or import the power from England.
Neither option will sit easily with the SNP who have set Scotland a target of hitting net zero five years earlier than the rest of the UK.
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