British nuclear waste plan criticised

The Minister for the Environment, Mr Roche, has criticised the British government's plans to bury nuclear waste from around the world in Britain.

The decision, which overturns a 30-year policy that the UK would not become a dumping ground for other countries' nuclear waste, is expected to earn up to €1 billion.

The British Trade Secretary, Ms Patricia Hewitt, said the money raised would be "used for nuclear clean-up which will result in savings for the UK taxpayer over the longer term".

Speaking from Buenos Aires where he was attending a forum on climate change yesterday, Mr Roche described the move as odd and unwelcome. "Any measure which would have the effect of intensifying activity in this sector is most unwelcome.

"The idea that gathering waste from across the globe in one location is a solution to anything is a very odd one indeed."

Last week Mr Roche and the British ambassador to Ireland, Mr Stewart Eldon, signed an agreement that Britain and Ireland would co-operate in the event of a significant nuclear incident.

A communiqué said the agreement would "lead to significantly enhanced co-operation in the fields of emergency planning, regulator-to-regulator and expert-to-expert dialogue, and improved mechanisms for information exchange".

The announcement of the decision to bury the waste from Japanese, German, Italian, Spanish, Swiss and Swedish nuclear facilities was made in a written House of Commons statement this week by Ms Hewitt. Much of the waste which arises from Britain's lucrative reprocessing business is handled at Sellafield on the Cumbrian coast and arrives there via the Irish Sea. Currently the plutonium-contaminated residue from this process is re-exported back to its country of origin.

The decision to bury the waste does not, however, represent a final solution to the problem and a committee of experts is examining long-term methods of disposal. No preferred method has been established. The committee has considered a number of proposals including launching the waste into outer space, or burying it under the Antarctic.