Letter: Nuclear dead end

Sir: If we, a "responsible" nation, re-embark on a nuclear power programme (report, 20 May), other less "responsible" nations may follow suit and we will have no moral right to discourage them.

It would only take another Chernobyl or Three Mile Island to halt the programme again. It would be madness to commit long-term investment into an industry with this degree of political uncertainty hanging over its head.

If the newly industrialised countries are to achieve our standards using current technology, CO2 emissions will quadruple, causing havoc with the climate. Instead of investing in a politically dead-end industry, our prosperity could have a more assured future if we research renewables, particularly photo-voltaics and off-shore wind. This is the international growth industry of the future.

JAMES BRUGES

Bristol