Sir, - The Shut Sellafield Campaign has scored an initial success with its postcard campaign. The cards were eye-catching and well designed, and hit all the right emotional buttons (e.g., "Look me in the eye and tell me I'm safe").
The protest so far might be summed up by the phrase: nice cards, shame about the logic! I have a problem with the phrase, "Shut Sellafield". What do they mean by "shutting the plant down"? Do they believe that putting a padlock on the front gate and sticking up a "Keep Out" sign will cause all radioactivity at the plant to cease? Will high-activity storage tanks vanish into thin air? Do they propose moving all this radioactive material somewhere else? If so, where? If not, why not?
I suggest that if the campaigners are unsure about the answers to these pertinent questions, their campaign for Sellafield's closure lacks clarity and any credibility. The situation at Sellafield cannot be improved with flawed logic, however good the campaign. Wishful thinking will not put the nuclear genie back into its pre-second-World-War bottle. - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL DOHENY,
Powerscourt Lawns,
Dunmore Road,
Waterford.