Economic impact of nuclear energy: EIR release

Information requested

1. What analysis has the Scottish Government carried out on the economic impact of existing nuclear energy in Scotland?

2. What analysis has the Scottish Government carried out on the economic impact of the potential expansion of new nuclear power stations in Scotland?

3. What analysis has the Scottish Government carried out on the financial impact on the Scottish Government’s revenues of Hunterston B moving from producing energy, to defueling, to decommissioning?

4. What analysis has the Scottish Government carried out on the financial impact on the Scottish Government’s revenues of Torness moving from producing energy, to defueling, to decommissioning?

5. What analysis has the Scottish Government carried out on the potential costs of new nuclear power stations in Scotland?

6. What analysis has the Scottish Government carried out on the environmental impact of new nuclear power station in Scotland?

Response

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

1. What analysis has the Scottish Government carried out on the economic impact of existing nuclear energy in Scotland?

In 2019, the Scottish Government commissioned Ernst and Young to undertake independent analysis to better understand our energy requirements as we transition to net zero. This analysis included consideration of the economic contributions (jobs and GVA) of existing nuclear energy in Scotland amongst other areas. The results of this work were published in 2023 and are publicly available here: Publication of the outputs from a programme of work to better understand our energy requirements as we transition to net zero - Energy system and Just Transition: independent analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government holds information in the levels of jobs in relation to the nuclear supply chain in Scotland, sourced directly from EDF, the ONS LCREE survey and the National Industry Association publications. This has been provided in the documents 1,5,7.

2. What analysis has the Scottish Government carried out on the economic impact of the potential expansion of new nuclear power stations in Scotland?
3. What analysis has the Scottish Government carried out on the financial impact on the Scottish Government’s revenues of Hunterston B moving from producing energy, to defueling, to decommissioning?
4. What analysis has the Scottish Government carried out on the financial impact on the Scottish Government’s revenues of Torness moving from producing energy, to defueling, to decommissioning?

The Scottish Government does not have information you have requested to answer your second, third and fourth questions. Therefore, we are unable to meet your request for this information under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. The reasons why that exception applies are explained below in Annex A of this letter.

5. What analysis has the Scottish Government carried out on the potential costs of new nuclear power stations in Scotland?

The Scottish Government has carried out a range of analysis over 20 years on the potential costs of new nuclear power stations in Scotland. This analysis has been provided in documents 2-9. This includes evidence and analysis on the cost uncertainty of new nuclear stations; on levelised cost estimates for electricity generation, including electricity generated from nuclear power; on the potential costs associated with future decommissioning of new nuclear power stations; on the cost of a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model for consumers and on the cost of new Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).

6. What analysis has the Scottish Government carried out on the environmental impact of new nuclear power station in Scotland?

The Scottish Government has carried out a range of analysis on the potential environmental impact of new nuclear power in Scotland. This has been provided in documents 4 and 5.

Annex A

The following exception has been applied to questions 2, 3 and 4:

10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held)

Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. The Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested because no such reports on control measures have been published for west of Scotland in the last five years. This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Despite not holding this information, we have a statutory obligation to apply this test. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about control measures for the west of Scotland, clearly we cannot provide reports that we do not hold. 

11(2) of the EIRs (personal information)

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

EIR 202400438548 - Information released - Annex

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