Labour will today warn Scotland could be "left behind" in the race for thousands of jobs because of the SNP's opposition to new nuclear power stations.
Skilled workers in Scotland "desperate" to put their talents to use will be let down by the Scottish Government, Labour MP Tom Greatrex will say.
The SNP are opposed to the construction of a new generation of nuclear plants in Scotland. The party says the energy source is costly and dangerous and that Scotland should focus on renewables instead.
However, Mr Greatrex will use a fringe event at the Labour party conference in Manchester to highlight the potential jobs dividend from nuclear power.
A recent report by the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank estimated up to 32,000 new jobs could be created through new nuclear power stations across the UK.
Industry figures show Scotland employs more than 5000 people in the industry.
In his speech, Mr Greatrex will say: "While we should not simply accept nuclear power no matter the cost, the opportunities from new nuclear energy should not be ignored.
"The chance to create thousands of jobs is too important to dismiss. And the potential for economic growth should not be passed over."
The Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP will also accuse the SNP of a "confused and ideological objection" to nuclear power.
And he will warn that their opposition may mean Scotland gets "left behind" on jobs.
It is not the first time Mr Greatrex has criticised the SNP over nuclear power.
Two weeks ago, he accused the party of preparing the ground for a U-turn on the issue, one of its flagship policies.
The SNP furiously denied any such plan and said that Labour's attack had backfired.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: "Nuclear power stations are expensive to build, have vast decommissioning costs and leave a legacy of hazardous nuclear waste – which is why we do not support the construction of new nuclear stations in Scotland."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article