Moves towards nuclear clean up announced.

Following last year's White Paper "Managing the Nuclear Legacy", the Government has published its draft Nuclear Sites and Radioactive Substances Bill. It expects to decide on how to implement the UK's policy for managing radioactive waste by 2006, once it has received recommendations from the

Announcing the appointment of Katharine Bryan, currently Chair of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, as chairman of the CoRWM, Environment Secretary, Margaret Beckett, said that it was anticipated that in addition to the 20,000 tonnes of waste already accumulated, approximately 500,000 tonnes of waste will be created over the next century, even if no new plant is commissioned. The new Bill will establish the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to handle future nuclear clean-ups.

Mrs Beckett also wants to ensure that Nirex, the company originally established to handle radioactive waste disposal, will come under "greater Government control" so that it can retain its independence from the rest of industry and assist the Committee before any decisions on its long term future are taken.. Proposals for achieving this would be made in the autumn once shareholders had been consulted. Nirex's own plans to establish an underground storage facility at Sellafield were rejected in 1997.

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