Letter: Fears in the nuclear

Sir: Maybe Hamish McRae should stop to consider the possibility that the safety of nuclear plants he so enthuses over is precisely because of the fears of protesters like those "woolly jumpered environmentalists".

Mr McRae says that the Magnox reactor is intrinsically safe because it is designed to overheat very slowly. So, protests about its dangers are irrational. But how did this particular design come to be adopted? Surely, public concerns about safety had something to do with it.

Public protesters such as Greenpeace may not always get it "right", but then, private managers are no different. Protest creates a culture that helps shape decisions taken behind closed doors. This democratic process may not produce perfect results. If so, we should be thinking of how to improve it, not dump on those who participate.

Yours sincerely,

Sujatha Raman

Collingwood College

Durham University

Durham