BOSSES at Hinkley Point have strongly denied the plant is to be turned into a nuclear dumping ground.

Last week the Mercury reported on proposals that could see waste being transported to the site from three UK power plants.

Anti-nuclear campaigners slammed the idea as “absolute madness” warning it could lead to more waste being sent to Bridgwater.

They also voiced fears lorries carrying cheaper concrete boxes housing the waste could be targeted by terrorists.

However, at a meeting with stakeholders, Magnox which operates Hinkley A, dismissed claims the site would become a dumping ground.

“We are aware of public statements that have been made, but reports that we are planning to turn Hinkley A into a waste dump are completely inaccurate,” a Magnox spokesman said.

“Our amended proposals would see less waste potentially brought to the site, 25 lorries over a two year period, compared to 70 lorries over a two year period under previous proposals.

“We have not made any decisions yet and will keep working closely with our local stakeholders as our plans progress.”

In the Mercury last week, we revealed Magnox was considering importing what is known as intermediate level waste (ILW) from as far away as Kent and Suffolk.

Addressing stakeholders, Ron Schroder, site director at Hinkley Point A, explained the plant was currently trialling a new technique called milling to deal with contaminated waste.

Mr Schroder said: “Using milling techniques we remove about 1mm of the contaminated surface.

“By scraping off the contaminated layer this reduces the size of a skip to about a cup of contaminated waste.

“This doesn’t mean that this will be the final answer, it is a trial.”

At the meeting Stop Hinkley group member Allan Debenham asked why skips were being imported to Hinkley from the Sellafields nuclear power plant in Cumbria.

Mr Schroder replied: “Hinkley is good at decontamination and has been asked by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to carry out this trial process.”

Under the plans, the contaminated metal fillings would then be encapsulated in six metre squared concrete boxes and stored on site for a time before being transported to a geological disposal facility.

Speaking at the meeting, Ben Bridgewater of Magnox said that this process could represent a £45million saving for the contractor and mean 400 less lorry movements required in future but stressed that safety and security remained the top priority.

He said: “We believe it represents the right solution for Hinkley Point A. The walls of the concrete box are thick enough to make what’s inside safe.

“These boxes would be in a store which is lightly shielded and the waste is eventually going to a geological disposal facility.

“We have had discussions with the local authorities but we would need to have further discussions so we aren’t committing to anything at this stage.

“At the next SSG meeting in June we will have more firm proposals.”

The group’s chairman Cllr Mike Caswell claimed the Mercury’s article last week misrepresented a meeting he had and made his dissatisfaction known at the meeting.

He said: “I was extremely angry after reading the article in the Bridgwater Mercury.

“It misrepresented a meeting we had – it was a ‘heads up’ meeting.”