A WORLD-leading Lancashire expert has said nuclear power remains a safe option for the future – despite the current Fukushima reactor crisis in Japan.

Laurence Williams, a professor of nuclear safety at the University of Central Lancashire, said the disaster, which followed a huge earthquake and tsunami in the country, should not put the UK off a new generation of nuclear power stations.

The Government has indicated that new reactors could be built at Heysham, near Morecambe, which has produced nuclear energy since the 1970s.

However, in the wake of the Fukushima crisis, which experts are battling to prevent from becoming a full-scale nuclear disaster, public opinion has swung against the energy source.

Prof Williams, a former chief inspector of nuclear installations, said: “It is a challenge for the industry to explain how safe nuclear power is.

“However, this country has got a good record on nuclear safety and the reactors at Heysham are some of the safest in the world, run by a good company with a highly-trained workforce.

“We have got to get things in balance. The chance of a nuclear disaster is something like one in a million, compared with a one in 10,000 chance of dying when you drive your car.”

Prof Williams said the UK’s new generation of nuclear reactors could also offer a huge jobs boost locally.