The SNP will be urged to reverse its opposition to nuclear energy in order to meet energy demands and create jobs.

In a Scottish Parliament debate today the SNP will lodge a motion rejecting the creation of new nuclear energy projects.

Labour is leading a new round of investment in new nuclear plants in England, including small modular reactors that can be built in areas not typically asigned for such plants.

Nuclear power generation is now considered by some analysts as a clean source of energy and eligible for inclusion in the net zero agenda.

Between 2004 and 2021, nuclear energy accounted for 25-43% of the annual electricity generation in Scotland. There is now only one remaining operating nuclear power station in Scotland at Torness.

SNP policy, supported by the Greens, is firmly against renewal and expansion of nuclear energy.

Scottish Labour has called this position “economically and environmentally damaging”, reiterating its view that clean nuclear power should be part of Scotland’s energy mix. It has pledged to reverse the policy if it is elected to government next year.

The party’s net zero spokesperson Sarah Boyack said: “The SNP’s incoherent and irresponsible position on nuclear power is depriving Scotland of huge opportunities and hindering our clean power potential.

“At the stroke of a pen, the SNP could unlock billions of pounds of investment and create new, quality jobs in Scotland – but instead it is stubbornly doubling down on its ideological opposition to clean nuclear energy.

“Nuclear energy can not only provide huge economic opportunities for Scotland, but it can work hand in hand with renewables to help us meet our climate goals.”

Scottish Green Co-leader Patrick Harvie says new nuclear power is expensive and does not offer the solutions the country needs.

“New nuclear power would cost billions of pounds at a time when Labour are telling the public that there is no money to tackle poverty or keep pensioners warm,” he said. “These new reactors would do nothing to reduce the bills that Labour promised to cut during the election.”

The first nuclear power plant to be built in the UK for over 30 years, at Hinkley Point, is nearing £28 billion over budget and despite the construction phase beginning in 2016, it will likely not generate any electricity until at least 2029 but possibly 2031, says the Greens.