Nuclear waste: no plans for disposal
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The Government's policy of dealing with radioactive waste has been condemned in a damning report from the House of Lords.
The Science and Technology Committee has said it's "dismayed" at the lack of urgency in deciding how to dispose of our nuclear rubbish.
The government instructed a new advisory body, the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) to start from a "blank sheet of paper" despite an
overwhelming international scientific consensus that underground disposal or
storage was a safe long-term solution.
Breakfast had more on this throughout Friday's programme
Our reporter Sophie Hutchinson was at the Sizewell nuclear plant in Suffolk
We heard from Daniel Lak in Washington about how the problem of disposing of nuclear waste is dealt with in the United States.
Burying nuclear waste deep underground is one option, and a range of mountains in Nevada is also being considered for the storeage of waste.
The United States is not that much farther ahead than the UK on finding a long term solution despite spending $4bn digging tunnels - so far these have never been used.
Environmental groups have also been loobying hard against nuclear waste being stored underground or in purpose built mountain 'caves', but that still means there is 91 million gallons of Plutonium used in weapoons production which needs to be disoped of.
Dr John Large is an independent nuclear expert - he was live in the studio, click on the link to the right to see that item.
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Click here to see Sophie Hutchinson's report from Sizewell
Nuclear waste is a political problem not a technical one
