Following reports that EDF has requested a licence from the Scottish Government to move radioactive waste between Hunterston and Torness in East Lothian, the Labour Group on NAC has raised concerns on the safety of road transport.

Local Labour Councillor Alex Gallagher has also questioned the SNP’s policy position on the larger question of industrial development at the Hunterston site.

In an exchange with SNP Councillors, Councillor Gallagher pointed out that, with the loss of Hunterston A and the planned closure of Hunterston B, the site will be left with only the radioactive waste store operational in future.

He commented: “Thanks to the SNP, Hunterston has been reduced to a storage site for radioactive waste and now it is proposed to move the waste by road between nuclear sites.

“The very least we need is a comprehensive safety review before any such decision is taken. I am concerned that transporting the waste by road would not be as safe as the well established rail routes that previously prevailed.” Councillor Gallagher continued: “In the past we had electricity generation and 800 high quality jobs at Hunterston. At the same time the waste was carried away by rail to Sellafield. In the future, thanks to the SNP’s dogmatic anti-nuclear obsession, we will have the radioactive waste stored on-site and also transported by road across Scotland.

“When you add the fact that the SNP has withdrawn Strategic Development Status from the Hunterston site, ensuring that the Scottish Government will no longer promote any significant development of the site you have to ask: does the SNP at Holyrood or Irvine have any care and consideration for the economy, security or safety of the people of North Ayrshire?

“It beggars belief that this fiasco is the outcome of any properly considered policy analysis.”