HOW CAN our government coolly announce the go-ahead for two new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point while at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, workers are still battling to clean up the disaster caused two years ago?

Remember the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that knocked out cooling systems and sent two reactors into meltdown, forcing mass evacuations from the area? Well, the danger still remains high. Thousands of tonnes of radiation-contaminated water are being stored in tanks. Some is leaking steadily into the Pacific Ocean.

Two of the reactor cores have melted into the ground and no-one knows exactly where they are. A third is perched 100 feet above ground level and has to be brought down safely.

All in all, the Fukushima plant remains in a precarious state – God forbid there is another severe earthquake or more heavy rain. Tens of thousands of people remain in temporary accommodation, and are told it could be decades before they are able to return home – if at all.

Germany is now phasing out its existing plants because nuclear is just not worth the risk. Britain should be decommissioning its nuclear plants too, not building more.

Marie Walsh Central Avenue Blackwood