Officials at the Scottish government have pledged to block any moves to power the giant Grangemouth refinery with a nuclear reactor.
Talks have taken place between Ineos, the chemicals group, and Rolls- Royce, the engineering firm, and are understood to include looking at whether the sprawling plant on the Firth of Forth could be powered by a small modular power plant.
However, the SNP has a long standing opposition to the installing of new nuclear power in the country.
A spokesman confirmed that the stance had not changed and said: “The Scottish government is absolutely clear in our opposition to the building of new traditional nuclear fission energy plants in Scotland under current technologies.
“Small modular reactors, while innovative in construction and size, still generate electricity using nuclear fission and therefore the process presents the same environmental concerns as traditional nuclear power plants.
“We believe that significant growth in renewables, storage, hydrogen and carbon capture provides the best pathway to net zero by 2045 and will deliver the decarbonisation we need to see across industry, heat and transport.”
The Grangemouth refinery, which has been processing oil since 1919, is a key part of Scotland’s industrial infrastructure.
It supplies aviation fuel to Scottish airports as well as many petrol stations across the country and some in Northern Ireland and the north of England.
Ineos, which is controlled by the billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, acquired the refinery from BP in 2005 before Petrochina purchased a share in 2011. Torness in East Lothian, which was commissioned in 1988, is Scotland’s last operational nuclear plant.
Successive SNP regimes at Holyrood have rejected the idea of any new nuclear power being built in Scotland. They have vowed to block any proposals using planning powers and that stance has only hardened by the addition of the Scottish Greens into coalition during this parliamentary term.
Mark Ruskell, from the Scottish Greens, said: “This is just another flight of fancy because it would never get through Scotland’s planning process.
“First we had Jim Ratcliffe proposing fracking operations in Scotland, which were blocked. Now we’re being told that new nuclear technology is being discussed, which if true, would clearly never get off the ground for the same reasons.”
In contrast to Holyrood the UK government is committed to building more reactors, including Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C, in a plan to improve energy security.
Those projects form part of a target for nuclear to be providing 24 gigawatts of power by 2050. As part of that Rolls-Royce is looking to develop between 20 and 30 smaller modular reactors.
Westminster has committed £210 million to the venture with an additional £280 million coming from private investment.
Each of the reactors is thought to be capable of generating 470 megawatts of electricity and powering up to one million homes.
The talks with Ineos, which were first reported in the Sunday Telegraph, are believed to be at an early stage.
Ineos and Rolls-Royce were contacted for comment.
