The following letter has been sent to the Guardian – unpublished.

Dear Editor,
The article “Surging gas prices and fuel bills focus Tory minds on the nuclear option” (Rob Davies 4th Oct 2021) fails to mention: 1. Sellafield is a big user of gas to the tune of tens of £Millions a year (and they get it cheap). A massive new gas plant is being built there right now to cool the heels of the nuclear industry. 2. There is no “away” for nuclear waste apart from the scientifically premature and dangerous plan to bury it deep (and not so deep) underground. 3. The CEO of the controversial coal mine in Cumbria is “invaluable” to the UK Government’s plan for intermediate and high level wastes in his role as key member of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management. In the frame for a deep nuclear dump is the subsea area adjacent to his coal mine business interests. It will be interesting to see how these vested interests play out come the Government’s decision on whether their “invaluable” advisor can have his coal mine or not. Who would have thought gas, coal and nuclear could be cronies?
yours sincerely
Marianne Birkby
Radiation Free Lakeland
Reblogged this on Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole.
If you take into account the ridiculous cost of building a nuclear plant, then running, providing security, maintaining and refueling it then perhaps the price of gas is not really that bad, at least it does not leave future generations with a toxic legacy that has the potential to threaten their very existance. If this government is so happy to have nuclear then they should be happy to build one where the energy demands are most needed, somewhere near to London.