Proven power sources

SIR – I agree with Peter Bastow (Letters, October 16) that wind energy is “unreliable, noisy inland and unsightly both on land and sea”.

It is also an environmental disaster that destroys the landscape, requires additional transmission lines and substations, is responsible for the deaths of many birds and is not fit for purpose. It is supposed to be free, yet it cannot survive without subsidies.

However, Mr Bastow is wrong about nuclear power, which is one of the cleanest, safest and most reliable forms of energy available. Hinkley excepted, it is also one of the cheapest.

It is a technology that has proved itself over 60 years. The statistics show that, even including Chernobyl, it has one of the lowest accident rates of any human activity. If the equipment is designed and manufactured to the correct standards, and the operating and maintenance procedures are followed, there is minimal danger.

I also question Mr Bastow’s claim that tidal sites are numerous, unless he is referring to undeveloped ones. A European tidal project has been in progress for several years on Orkney. The money would have been better spent on a proven technology, such as small nuclear reactors. Fred Catlow Thurso, Caithness