Forget the Scots, Here Come the Welsh

Well, of course we want Scotland to see the error of their ways and keep their nuclear plants up and running. There seems to be a little pushback on closing them:

[Iain] McMillan [director of CBI Scotland, the Scots version of the Chamber of Commerce] said that the proposed local income tax, to replace council tax in Scotland, could turn businesses away from the country, and the [Scottish National Party]’s decision to rule out new nuclear power stations north of the border could put Scotland’s future as an energy exporter at risk.

We’ll see. If we read the story right, a consensus seems to be emerging that Scotland is spiting its nose to throw out the baby with the bird in the bush. In other words, bad decision.

Maybe the United Kingdom subscribes to The Sound of Music dictum that when God closes a door, He opens a window. Here’s the window:

Energy firm RWE nPower has revealed plans to build up to three new nuclear power stations in Anglesey, Wales, the Guardian has reported.

The British branch of the German-owned firm has announced its intention to make a 'multibillion-pound investment' in the area which could generate 3.6 gigawatts of energy which could provide power for up to 5m homes from 2012. The company has already secured grid connections for the energy.

This report comes from Building.com, which caters to the construction business, and one can see why this would interest them. Wales is closing two plants, supplying 40% of the electricity to Wales, in 2010, but with these giants coming on line, perhaps they’ll extend the life span of the earlier two long enough to bridge the gap.

You’ll note that the two new plants can power 5 million homes – since Wales has 3 million people, perhaps they can zap some of that energy over to Scotland. They might need it.

The Trawsfynydd (gesundheit!) nuclear power station. This is one of the two that’s closing.