BBC News Online: UK: Wales

Nuclear waste storage opposed

The owner of the now closed Trawsfynydd site - British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) has said it needs to contain waste which cannot be moved elsewhere for disposal.

The company has said it would be capable of containing waste that has to stay on the site for more than 100 years.

But the Council for National Parks has said there should be a public inquiry as the scheme is of national importance.

This is the second time that BNFL has applied for permission to build a store for Intermediate Level Waste at the plant.

In1998 an application was called in by the then Welsh Secretary Ron Davies.

The company wanted to store this particular type of nuclear waste in modified existing buildings at the site.

Concerns

But the plans were halted after nuclear inspectors voiced concerns about the detail of the proposals.

BNFL has said that the new proposals address that problems which were raised by the inspectors.

The company plans to build a store capable of holding the waste until radioactivity levels have fallen low enough to be handled without the need for sophisticated protection.

That could be as long as 135 years.

Local anti-nuclear campaigners are to meet soon to discuss the plan.

Trawsfynydd was taken out of commission in 1993, with the last of the spent fuel being removed from the site two years later.