MSP John Home Robertson's attack on me over pointing out the dangers of nuclear power as "opportunistic" would be laughable if his complacency and misinformation were not so serious (December 24). And if he were less of a nuclear industry mouthpiece and more objectively minded he would be aware that back in 2002 the Torness plant was shut down for months due to another serious incident. Indeed, the so-called "very high safety standards" that Mr Roberston refers to sit in stark contrast to the findings of the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate at the time describing the response of the plant operators as not demonstrating "that a high priority is given to nuclear safety".
At the time, British Energy reported the incident as "vibration problems in one gas circulator", but, in fact, it was much more serious - a "loud noise" and "heavy vibration" caused "significant damage" to the cooling gas circulation system with "many loose parts", "significant deformation" and 750 litres of oil leaking into the "lower reactor area".
The only time the public was made aware of the true extent of that incident was three years later when I requested the full details under Freedom of Information legislation earlier this year.
Mr Robertson might also want to be aware of the 200 additional "abnormal events" at Scotland's two nuclear power stations over the past five years revealed earlier this month, also by Freedom of Information request.
Safety incidents at Torness and at Hunterston in North Ayrshire included unauthorised waste discharges and problems with reactor fuel and fires. Staffing levels have breached those required by site emergency arrangements and even the wrong computer software was loaded into a reactor control system.
Would we ever have found out about events at Torness the other evening were it not for a member of the public texting a radio station after seeing a convoy of fire engines and police cars rushing towards the plant?
I am appalled that Mr Robertson forgets to mention the nuclear pollution nightmare that is Sellafield, never mind the ongoing legacy of the failed Dounreay experiment.
Nuclear power is no solution to climate change; the real solution is increased energy efficiency, coupled with renewable energy, and to reduce the many other causes of carbon pollution, not just electricity production. Scotland doesn't need nuclear, and the people don't want it.
Chris Ballance, Green MSP for South Scotland, The Scottish Parliament.
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