Nuclear power contributes about half of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

's electricity. The current Scottish National Party

Scottish National Party

The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....

 (SNP) government elected in 2007 however has a 'no new nuclear power strategy'. This position is at odds with UK government policy which in January 2008 announced the go-ahead for new nuclear power stations to be built across the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. Scotland's First Minister

First Minister of Scotland

The First Minister of Scotland is the political leader of Scotland and head of the Scottish Government. The First Minister chairs the Scottish Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Scottish Government policy...

 Alex Salmond

Alex Salmond

Alexander Elliot Anderson "Alex" Salmond MSP is a Scottish politician and current First Minister of Scotland. He became Scotland's fourth First Minister in May 2007. He is the Leader of the Scottish National Party , having served as Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon...

 maintains that there is 'no chance' of new nuclear power stations being built in Scotland. The Scottish Government's stance has been backed by the Scottish Parliament

Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...

 that voted 63-58 to support the Scottish Government's policy of opposing new nuclear power stations.

Power station reactors

• Chapelcross, Dumfries and Galloway
  Dumfries and Galloway
  Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973...
  
   - 4 x 180MW(th) (Generation ceased in June 2004)
• Hunterston A, North Ayrshire
  North Ayrshire
  North Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland with a population of roughly 136,000 people. It is located in the south-west region of Scotland, and borders the areas of Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire to the north-east and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the East and South...
  
   (Generation ceased 1990)
• Hunterston B
  Hunterston B nuclear power station
  Hunterston B Power Station is a nuclear power station in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located about 9 km south of Largs and about 4 km north-west of West Kilbride. It is operated by EDF Energy...
  
  , North Ayrshire
  North Ayrshire
  North Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland with a population of roughly 136,000 people. It is located in the south-west region of Scotland, and borders the areas of Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire to the north-east and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the East and South...
  
   British Energy owned AGR
• Torness
  Torness nuclear power station
  Torness nuclear power station was the last of the United Kingdom's second generation nuclear power plants to be commissioned. Construction of this facility began in 1980 for the then South of Scotland Electricity Board and it was commissioned in 1988...
  
  , East Lothian
  East Lothian
  East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
  
   2 x 682MWe. British Energy owned AGR

Research reactors

• Dounreay
  • VULCAN (Rolls-Royce Naval Marine) (decommissioned in 1992)
  • PWR2 (Rolls-Royce Naval Marine) - (scheduled to shut down in 2014)
  • DMTR - (shut down 1969)
  • Dounreay Fast Reactor - Fast breeder reactor (shut down 1994)
  • Prototype fast reactor - (shut down 1994)
• East Kilbride
  East Kilbride
  East Kilbride is a large suburban town in the South Lanarkshire council area, in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. Designated as Scotland's first new town in 1947, it forms part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation...
  
   - Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre (deactivated 1995, fully dismantled 2003)

See also

• Nuclear power in the United Kingdom
  Nuclear power in the United Kingdom
  Nuclear power currently generates around a sixth of the United Kingdom's electricity. As of 2011, the United Kingdom operates 19 nuclear reactors at nine locations...
  
  
• Economy of Scotland
  Economy of Scotland
  The economy of Scotland is closely linked with the rest of the United Kingdom and the wider European Economic Area. Scotland has the second largest GVA per capita of countries in the United Kingdom after England, though it is still lower than the average of the United Kingdom as a whole...
  
  
• Renewable energy in Scotland
  Renewable energy in Scotland
  The production of renewable energy in Scotland is an issue that has come to the fore in technical, economic, and political terms during the opening years of the 21st century. The natural resource base for renewables is extraordinary by European, and even global standards...
  
  
• List of Scotland-related topics