Letter: Fuel for debate

Sir: You report (Business, 5 November) that Peter Mandelson is trying to stop the new German government cancelling pounds 1bn worth of contracts with BNFL, under which highly dangerous plutonium is extracted from German nuclear waste at Sellafield in Cumbria.

Peter Mandelson should of course be urging Mr Schroder's government to cancel the contracts as quickly as possible. This would allow the Deputy Prime Minister to meet the commitments he made at an international meeting in Portugal earlier this year to reduce drastically the discharges of radioactivity from Sellafield into the air and sea. Peter Mandelson's vain attempts to get the new German government to continue these polluting practices simply undermine John Prescott's heroic efforts to enable Britain to shed its "Dirty Man of Europe" image. He should instead be encouraging the Prime Minister to see the benefits in joining in the new, greener Europe.

PETER MELCHETT

Executive Director

Greenpeace UK

London N1