PROFESSOR Tony Trewavas's plea to put energy supply back into the hands of engineers and scientists (Letters, April 14) has a rather hollow ring to it.

Does he refer to the engineers and scientists who have lumbered us with a multi-million-pound bill to clean up Dounreay; the ones who thought it was safe to dump nuclear waste down the infamous "shaft" for years on end; the ones who have polluted the local beaches with radioactive particles?

Are our engineers better trained than those who designed and operated Chernobyl and Fukushima?

Will this new cohort be more accurate in their predictions than those that he lauds, those who promised electricity so cheap that it would not be worth issuing bills?

Yes, we will always need visionary engineers and scientists but we also need politicians to protect us from their excesses.

David Hay,

12 Victoria Park, Minard, Argyll.