Nuclear waste plan backed

12:11pm Thursday 21st December 2006

NUCLEAR waste looks set to be stored above ground in Berkeley - a move that has been desrcibed as the "lesser of two evils".

But ocals have said they are in support of the proposal by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

It wants to build a reinforced concrete store for Intermediate-level nuclear waste (ILW) on the licensed site. The store would hold waste from Berkeley power station only.

Steve Payne, Berkeley's British Nuclear Group communications officer, said: "They were going to set it below ground by the reactor buildings but now they've decided to set it above ground."

The proposals have been met with support from local residents who believe the construction of an ILW store will improve safety at the Berkeley site as it heads toward its care and maintenance stage after closing in 1989.

Penny Wride, chairman of Ham and Stone Parish Council and a member of the Berkeley Site Stakeholder Group, said: "It will only hold Berkeley waste and we always knew the waste would be staying on site and this is a very safe method of keeping it here.

"We can understand why they are doing it and it should allay any fears people have about how the waste was going to be stored."

Val Watts, a member of the Berkeley Site Stakeholder Group, said: "Anything that increases safety, which is obviously at the base of this plan, we support.

"This has been on the cards for several months and we are quite happy to go along with it."

Philip Booth, Stroud District Green Party Spokesman, said although his party were not in favour of the plan it was the lesser of two evils.

He said: "Regrettably an intermediate level nuclear waste store is the least worst option, but it must not take waste from elsewhere and it must be properly water-proof as sea-level rises are forecast.

"However, clearly the best way to begin dealing with this hugely costly nuclear waste is to stop producing it. It is crazy the Government are planning new nuclear reactors that produce even more of the higher levels of radioactive waste."

The British Nuclear Group (BNG) on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority are now consulting local parish and town councils as well as the Berkeley Site Stakeholder Group on its plans for the site.

The BNG plans to submit a planning application for the store to the planning authority early next year.