Nuclear fills the bill

Jim Warren's May 25 Point of View article was a diatribe against nuclear power. Among other things, he wrote that "Global warming is accelerating toward potentially catastrophic weather changes -- including more severe storms and droughts." Dr. John Christy, professor and director of the Earth Systems Science Center at the University of Alabama, has shown that the frequency of hurricanes, thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes has not increased in recent years.

Warren also argued that building a nuclear power plant would provide "toxic and greenhouse gas emissions during years of construction." The same can be said for the construction of renewable energy technologies. Solar and wind, indeed all renewable energy technologies, cannot become significant contributors to the large-scale energy needs of a major industrial country. Only nuclear power has the potential to replace large quantities of fossil fuel in the foreseeable future. Nuclear power plant risks and nuclear waste disposal have been reduced to non-problems, especially when compared to other energy generating systems.

Major knowledgeable scientific organizations throughout the world have endorsed nuclear energy. Progress Energy's proposal for expanding its Sharon Harris nuclear power plant should be supported.

Charles R. Hosler

Fearrington Village

(The writer is retired as a meteorologist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and was a consultant to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission from 1958 to1967.)