BNFL refuse to confirm that waste storage plan is permitted

SELLAFIELD bosses are refusing to speculate on reports that the British government is about to grant them permission to store thousands of extra tons of radioactive waste at their Welsh base, 50 miles from the Irish coast.

British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL), which runs Sellafield, sought approval for the plan earlier this year in a bid to cut the number of shipments needed to take nuclear waste back to its overseas customers.

The company said yesterday it had not been notified of any decision and did not know what view the British authorities were taking of the request, despite a British newspaper report it was a done deal to be announced later in the summer.