I cannot say that nuclear warheads lurking in the murky depths off Scotland make me feel any safer at night. As the saying goes “no nukes is good nukes”.

Is nuclear power ever a good thing?

According to the global warming author Mark Lynas, nuclear power is safe and low carbon to boot. He even went to Chernobyl to show how safe nuclear is. Lynas said that only a handful of fatalities were caused by the nuclear accident.

However a recent study found that nuclear energy has a very high carbon footprint.

Furthermore the deaths from radiation-induced cancers may take years to materialise and even affect future third generations via mutations.

I was shocked to learn that most of the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s budget is being spent on cleaning up nuclear waste at Sellafield. The National Audit Office found the nuclear clean-up is costing some £53bn.

SUSAN THOMAS
Magdalen Road
Oxford