John Phillpott claims that “nuclear power in a country such as ours is virtually risk-free”? (Worcester News, 22 February)

33 serious incidents at nuclear power stations around the world have been recorded since 1952. The worst was at Chernobyl in 1986, with hundreds of square miles around the stricken plant still radioactive today so no one can live there. Radioactive plumes found their way to many parts of Europe, including Wales, where farming had to stop in some areas.

John Phillpott bases his confidence in the safety of nuclear power by claiming that we do not have earthquakes and tsunamis in Britain. Of the 33 serious incidents mentioned, only the Fukushima disaster in 2011 was linked to an earthquake and tsunami. Even then, these events would have been factored in by the designers. The plant exploded because an emergency cooling system failed.

All 33 incidents and their causes were either engineering or human failures or both. Even if they could all be eliminated, there are still the thousands of tons of waste already accumulated with nowhere to bury it safely to which more would be added.

I hope Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, had time during her visit to Britain to explain to our Prime Minister why Europe’s richest and most successful economy is turning its back on nuclear power.

Louis Stephen

Worcester Green Party