I hope Hitachi Ltd. will give up on its attempts to build a nuclear power station at Wylfa in Wales ("Hitachi looks to build nuke plant in Britain" in the April 7 edition).
I live on the island of Ynys Mon where the station would be located. I am deeply concerned about the possible disastrous effects which any incident releasing radioactivity would have. Anything from a human error, terrorist attack, plant malfunction to a Fukushima-type disaster doesn't bear thinking about.
The site is on a particularly beautiful stretch of coastline — this is a precious landscape which would be destroyed if the station was built.
I note that Hitachi has put its wholly owned company Horizon Nuclear Power Ltd. up for sale, either in total or in part, and have stated that the nuclear power station will not be built unless adequate funding is in place.
If it does get funding, the people of Wales will be left with a nuclear power station run by a company with no experience of doing so. There would also be a dump holding spent toxic radioactive waste on the site for over 100 years. Hitachi could potentially walk away once the station was built. I don't call that corporate responsibility.
It would be far preferable if it were to use its cutting-edge technology in renewable energy to provide much needed work where I live. Surely Hitachi can see that the future energy needs of the planet will be met in the main from renewables, at a much lower price than nuclear, and without the risks.
Contrary to what Hitachi may have been led to believe, there is considerable opposition to a nuclear power station here.
We'd like Hitachi to be good neighbors to us in Wales. We do welcome it for its renewable technology, but not at the price of a nuclear power station with all its risks and legacy of radioactive waste for generations!
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.