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Independent Scotland ‘won’t pay for new nuclear’

An independent Scotland would veto nuclear support such as that agreed with EDF Energy for Hinkley Point C, according to a white paper published on Tuesday.

The report said a Scottish Government would not allow Scottish generation to be “compromised” by “expensive, long-term contracts for new nuclear generation”.

However, it expects to continue a system of shared support for renewables, claiming Scottish generation “will continue to be the most cost-effective means for the rest of the UK to meet its renewable ambitions”.

It would have an “energy partnership” with Westminster and continue to take part in a Great Britain-wide market with a single system operator, but with its own energy regulator.

Launching the blueprint, Holyrood first minister Alex Salmond said it was “a mission statement and a prospectus for the kind of country we should be and which this Government believes we can be”.