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Nuclear waste 'dumps' planned
Greenpeace has said it may launch legal action against the government in response to its forthcoming publication of plans to store nuclear waste underground in a white paper later this year.
The plans will be published following more scientific consultation, environment secretary Hilary Benn said on Thursday.
In a written Commons statement, Mr Benn said the government was of the view that public consultation discerned support for managing higher activity radioactive waste "through geological disposal".
However, Ben Ayliffe, head of Greenpeace's nuclear campaign, said the government had "no idea" of what to do with nuclear waste.
The government is to ask local communities to volunteer to host the underground sites, also known as "nuclear waste dumps", in return for financial compensation.
It is also rumoured that ministers are considering the option of creating an undersea storage system, possibly off the Cumbrian coast.
The news comes as business secretary John Hutton gave the go-ahead yesterday for the building of new nuclear power stations in the UK to ensure future security of energy supplies.
The white paper is due for publication in the spring.
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