Further to Keith Gottschalk's comments on nuclear power (Energy cost is the issue, Letters, July 31), whenever the taboo words Karoo and fracking are uttered there is deluge of self-serving correspondence consisting of emotion, assertions and scare stories.

This matter is so important to the future well being of SA that it has to be moved out of the clutches of activists into the hands of engineering, energy and risk-assessment professionals.

Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric, the world's largest supplier of atomic equipment, recently said that "nuclear power is so expensive compared to gas, that it is really hard to justify". Most countries, he said, were shifting to gas which has become "permanently cheap".

This opens up the question of why the government is rushing to sign multibillion-rand agreements with Hitachi, which the African National Congress will benefit from through Chancellor House; but that's another story.

There is no such thing as zero risk. If every development or activity was vetoed on the altar of zero risk, not much would happen, which is why scientists, free of political and activist influence, must monitor the process.

Sydney Kaye

Cape Town