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		Letter to the Editor Northampton Chronicle & Echo - Monday 20th March 2006 Dear Sir, It is ironic to see Labour Councillor Peter Evans ranting against nuclear energy (Your Say, 15 March) at a time when his own Labour government is softening up public opinion to start building new reactors. He throws around childish insults -- "naive and immature". Perhaps he is naive and immature to try to pretend that all the coal mining accidents around the world are somehow the fault of previous Tory governments. We know that after nine years of Labour government they still try to blame the Conservatives for their own failings, but this is going a bit far. I was right to say that sadly far more workers have died in coal mining than in the nuclear industry. The fact is that some countries around the world have very poor industrial safety records, and most mining accidents take place in those countries. And the world's worst nuclear accident, Chernobyl, took place in the former USSR where standards were low and the lives of workers were considered cheap. Yet Cllr. Evans seeks to use that one example to condemn a whole industry. On that basis, perhaps we should also ban the chemical industry, on the basis that in the USSR it created an environmental disaster. It is simply crass to use Chernobyl as a comparison for a modern, safe nuclear industry in Europe. Only last week in Strasbourg I heard an excellent presentation from the head of Hungary's nuclear industry, which produces 40% of Hungary's energy needs. Regular opinion polling shows that 75% of local residents approve of the Hungarian nuclear industry. Maybe the Hungarians are a bit less naive than Cllr. Evans. Roger Helmer Conservative MEP for Northampton