I find the letter in the March issue entitled “Going nuclear: the questions members should be asking” from Nicholas Cox of Earthcare Products, deeply offensive.

I do not believe there is room in a professional engineering journal for alarmist comments such as “Why are we on the brink of war with Iran and North Korea…” and again “…the more fuel rods and waste in circulation, the greater the risk of a dirty bomb”.

I was a member of the IHVE and in the early 1980s CIBSE was only too happy to use engineers like me with a degree to establish its position with the Engineering Council. But that is where the association ended. I work in the nuclear industry, as do a considerable number of CIBSE members. Over my many years of membership I have offered articles for the journal, and papers for the national conference, all of which were not taken up. It appears the nuclear industry is not “fashionable” enough to be recognised by CIBSE.

The fourth IMechE Nuclear Ventilation Seminar was held in April 2008 with the majority of delegates being CIBSE members, not members of IMechE. The closing remarks by the chairman included “….nuclear ventilation systems are a cornerstone to the nuclear industry’, but it appears to be outside the scope of CIBSE.

In the 1980s BNFL launched a major investment programme for Sellafield and the Nuclear Ventilation Group, which I lead, took the opportunity to fundamentally change the design philosophies for ventilation systems on nuclear plants. The changes have had a massive impact on the safe operation of the plants across the industry. The changes also included energy saving, carbon reduction and reduced environmental impact beyond the comprehension of the author of the letter in question.

Dr Ray Doig BEng, PhD, CEng, FCIBSE, Ventilation Design Authority, Sellafield Site

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Building Sustainable Design