MSP hits out at nuclear firm secrecy

LOTHIANS Green MSP Alison Johnstone is calling on nuclear operator EDF to learn lessons from this week’s unplanned reactor shutdown at Torness.

The company has said reactor two automatically shut down due to a fault on a component within the protection equipment on one of the electrical systems.

A spokeswoman said: “The reactor shut down safely and cooling to the reactor was maintained at all times. There were no health or environmental impacts.”

However, Ms Johnstone said people first learned about Sunday’s fault via the media on Monday evening and EDF had failed to place any details on its website or Twitter.

She said: “While it’s a relief the shutdown did not result in any apparent power outage or environmental damage it’s baffling EDF did not seek to inform the public any earlier.

“Incidents such as these reinforce the view that the nuclear industry has a culture of secrecy.

“Scotland’s energy future is clearly in renewables and I look forward to the day we don’t need to worry about problems at nuclear plants on our doorstep.”