Nuclear weapons test treaty fears sink plans for major wind farm

The UK’s obligations to monitor nuclear weapons testing have helped scupper a proposal for a Scottish wind farm over fears it could affect a nearby monitoring station.

The Scottish government rejected a proposal from British developer Community Windpower for a planned 315MW array made up of 45 turbines near the border with England last month.

The reasons for this included the potential impact of the wind farm on the nearby Eskdalemuir Seismic Array, a seismological monitoring station that forms part of the UK’s obligations under a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons testing.