The crisis surrounding the nuclear power plant in Japan has rightly raised questions about UK plans to invest in new reactors ("Fukushima shows the danger of relying on nuclear", Leader).

Nuclear power is a gamble we don't need to take. Studies show that the UK can meet its energy needs and tackle climate change without resorting to nuclear power or burning fossil fuels – all that is lacking is the political will.

Over the years, the nuclear industry has survived on massive subsidies from UK taxpayers while cleaner forms of energy have been starved of cash.

If the government goes ahead with its plans to build new reactors this pattern will be repeated again. No nuclear power plant has ever been built without state funding and ministers are already planning ways to pump more money into the industry, despite promising not to.

The UK's green energy potential is enormous but the investment and political support it receives is minute. It's a similar picture with energy efficiency. People waste millions of pounds every year on heat that escapes through their walls and roofs.

Our recent opinion poll revealed that more people support investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy than nuclear. It's time to abandon the nuclear and fossil fuel dinosaurs and build a clean, safe future for us all.

Mike Childs

Head of energy

Friends of the Earth

London N1

Fukushima is a very serious nuclear incident. It was caused by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami of unprecedented scale and ferocity. The seismic conditions in Japan and the UK are very different and the circumstances that caused this incident would not occur here. But the UK government's approach, to establish the facts, learn the lessons, and apply them to the UK's situation and conditions, is the correct course of action. We will not be complacent. But it must be remembered too that the UK government's approach is aimed at securing our future supplies of low-carbon energy. Both the UK government and the industry are clear that new nuclear build will go ahead in the UK to secure our long-term environmental and security of supply needs into the future.

Keith Parker

Chief executive at the Nuclear Industry Association, London SW1

The government is right to initiate an independent and comprehensive report by Dr Mike Weightman, the UK chief nuclear inspector, to assess the implications of events at Fukushima for existing and new nuclear plants in the UK. The report will be put in the public domain, helping to ensure that lessons to be learned are implemented appropriately. This should be put in the context that the greatest threat to the planet is climate change. The energy white paper committed the UK to a safe and secure energy supply alongside an ambitious but necessary 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. Nuclear power is identified as part of the solution, alongside energy efficiencies, renewable energy and carbon capture and storage. The modern nuclear reactors are designed with "passive" safety and multiple design features that do not require manual intervention in the event of extreme events.

It would be wrong to formulate a knee-jerk opinion that everything labelled nuclear is inappropriate.

Professor Andrew H Sherry

Director, Dalton Nuclear Institute

University of Manchester

There is no credible alternative to an expansion of nuclear power to heat our homes, offices and factories and to keep us moving as the oil runs out. Renewables such as wind power and biofuels will not solve the problem of low-carbon power. Germany has virtually run out of space to add to the more than 17,000 wind turbines already in service while Britain and Denmark are experiencing the same problem. There is just not enough of this finite earth to grow the corn, rapeseed and sugarcane to meet the needs of a developing world economy that demands a first-world standard of living.

Bill Jackson

Nottingham