Nuclear energy is key in fight for climate | Letter

Ignore the myths about nuclear power, writes Rob Loveday of Generation Atomic - it is an essential source of clean energy

The letter on nuclear energy (25 August) sadly could not be more wrong - nuclear is one of the cleanest fuels we have, and has always been so. The carbon and material footprints of nuclear - for its entire lifetime, including mining and decommissioning - are lower than solar and on a par with wind, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Moreover, the nuclear industry manages its waste stream - that is more than can be said for the solar industry, which is set to produce millions of tons of toxic waste. Besides, spent nuclear fuel is not waste" but a valuable source of low-carbon energy that can be recycled via reprocessing or proposed breeder reactors, thereby neutralising the vast majority of the radioactivity.