THE first minister is set to abandon his staunch opposition to nuclear power in a major U-turn that challenges public opinion and threatens an irrevocable split with the Liberal Democrats.

Jack McConnell is to drop his blanket ban on new nuclear power stations being built in Scotland, claiming that any proposal will be considered “on its merits”.

It is a major shift from the position he has held since 2003: to oppose all new nuclear installations in principle until a solution for dealing with radioactive waste was found.

While publicly championing renewable sources of energy, McConnell has come under pressure from pro-nuclear trade unions and Labour activists who believe that nuclear generation should be a central part of a balanced energy policy.

During a visit to Edinburgh last Friday, Tony Blair sounded a sceptical note about green energy, warning that it was “very, very ambitious” to attempt to replace nuclear entirely with renewable production.

McConnell’s change of direction will be signalled in the Labour manifesto for next year’s Holyrood election. It will recommend a balanced energy policy in which nuclear, as well as renewables and coal, will play a part.

The shift will create a further gulf between Labour and its coalition partners, the Lib Dems, who are implacably opposed to the building of any new nuclear stations north of the border.

It will also fly in the face of Scottish public opinion — an ICM poll for the BBC in February found that 51% of Scots were against building new nuclear power stations north of the border, compared with 33% in favour.

However, continued prevarication threatened to set McConnell against Blair — who announced his support for a new generation of nuclear power stations as part of Britain’s long-term energy strategy earlier this year — and activists within his own party who voted to back new nuclear power stations at the Scottish Labour spring conference.

“There’s a real belligerence in the party and a feeling that we can’t have the Lib Dems being the tail that wags the dog on this,” said a source close to the first minister. “If Nicol Stephen (the Lib Dem leader) is against it, that’s seen as a good reason for us to back it.”

In response to a parliamentary question Allan Wilson, the deputy enterprise minister, said the executive would have to balance the pros and cons of each application rather than simply veto them for political reasons.

“In considering an application to build a new power station ministers must consider each application on its individual merits and must take into account all material considerations,” he said.

“Examples of material considerations would be the economic, social, environmental, cultural and heritage impacts of a nuclear power station, health and safety issues, and relevant UK government and executive policies.”

Wilson confirmed that Scottish ministers would also have to take account of the UK’s position on this before making a planning decision.

Sources close to the executive say ministers have no choice other than to keep the nuclear option open.

“The waste issue can be only one consideration among many others. If we just say we’re going to rule out new nuclear power stations in principle until that’s sorted out, we could end up being taken to the courts by any company we turn down,” one said.

Supporters of nuclear say that Scotland would face an energy gap unless stations reaching the end of their life at Torness and Hunterston are replaced because wind and wave projects are less reliable sources.

Further doubts were cast over the future of renewable energy last week when the Scottish executive announced a public inquiry into plans to install giant pylons between Beauly and Denny to transmit power from wind farms into the national grid.

The move, which will at least delay the project, follows a high-profile campaign by opponents who said that, like wind farms, it would scar the countryside.

A European Union directive requires new nuclear power stations to be justified by the UK government in advance, by assessing whether economic, social or other benefits outweigh any adverse health effects that could be caused.

Last year Lord Sewell, a former minister and architect of the devolution settlement, told The Sunday Times that ministers could reject an application on planning grounds but lacked the power to block nuclear power stations in principle because energy policy is reserved to Westminster.

Yesterday McConnell warned Labour supporters that they faced “the toughest election campaign in Scotland that any of us can remember”, after an opinion poll gave the SNP a four-point lead.

“The SNP have a chance to take Scotland to the brink of independence,” he said.

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