John Robertson MP (Letters, January 9) has been a consistent and vocal advocate of nuclear power, but his attempt to link it with recent rises in fuel prices and attack the SNP is really a step too far.

The UK government has said that taxpayers will not subsidise new nuclear power stations. Frankly, that will be impossible: no nuclear stations have been built anywhere without some form of state support. The costs of new nuclear build are enormous, and fraught with difficulty. The new reactor in Finland is already two years late and already massively over budget. There is also the cost of disposing of nuclear waste (the cost of dealing with historic waste is already at least £70bn and rising).

The truth is that new nuclear power stations in the UK will only proceed with either a state subsidy, direct or by hiding it, skewing the costs associated with waste disposal; or by adding the cost to consumers' bills and further raising the cost of energy. Far from helping Scottish consumers, it is likely to lead to higher bills.

If the government is not proposing to give new nuclear build some sort of assistance, what is the purpose of its statement? The fact is, there is absolutely nothing to prevent any electricity company from proceeding with a new nuclear power station now, subject to planning consents. None has and the reason is simply that nuclear power has been seen as uneconomic.

If Mr Robertson is serious about tackling fuel poverty, he should perhaps concentrate on pushing for social tariffs, action on the costs of prepayment metered energy and pushing the Chancellor to redirect some of the huge increase in VAT received from rising energy and fuel prices into helping those Scots struggling with their bills - all things that could be done quickly.

Mike Weir, SNP MP for Angus, Westminster spokesman on energy, 16 Brothock Bridge, Arbroath.

Carolyn Churchill's article about the hydro tunnel at Fort Augustus is most interesting. In the context of the political debate on supply of power, perhaps it would be of interest to provide more information.

For instance, just up the road, the Foyers facility provides five times as much electricity and has been doing so since 1896. Throughout the Great Glen there are several other facilities that are smaller but, combined, would they come anywhere near the power from one of the nuclear stations? What is the relationship between what is provided, what is used and what is in reserve?

Neil McKie, 20 Ashil, Evanton.

John Robertson MP's claim that having more nuclear power stations would lead, by competition among the other power generators, to cheaper electricity prices for consumers is absolute nonsense.

British Energy would have gone bankrupt if it had not been bailed out by the government. Are planning applications for new-build nuclear power stations in England and Wales being held back by waiting for what government assistance will be forthcoming in the latest "review"? If not, where are they?

Bill Robertson, Inbye, 117 Old Greenock Road, Bishopton.