Controversial plans to transport nuclear waste from Oldbury power station near Bristol to Hinkley Point near Burnham-On-Sea have been scrapped this week.
Magnox – which manages the decommissioned Hinkley Point A site – has also withdrawn plans to dissolve waste in acid and then filter it into the Bristol Channel.
Its “revised waste strategy” will involve storing low level spent fuel debris at Hinkley in concrete boxes.
It said: “technical challenges” had led to the change of plan. The move has been welcomed by campaigners opposed to transport plans.
Alan Jeffrey, of pressure group Stop Hinkley, said: “It’s much better to deal with the waste where it’s been produced rather than transporting it around the country where it’s susceptible to accidents or terrorism.”
Sedgemoor Councillor Michael Caswell said he had “always been an avid campaigner against the importation of waste to Hinkley”, and he was pleased Magnox had scrapped its plans to move waste to the site from Oldbury.
Meanwhile, Magnox is still considering proposals to bring metal skips used to store spent fuel debris from other sites to Hinkley.
