SELLAFIELD'S PLUTONIUM DUSTBIN

An eminent group of UK scientists, and a retired general, have reported "it's a total absurdity that we should have 100 tonnes of separated plutonium sitting up at Sellafield in tin cans ... . There is no policy to deal with the deadly material, which was reclaimed from used nuclear fuel. It's the largest stockpile in the world, a potential target for terrorists."

Last September I was in the Lake District, and took time out to inspect the Sellafield visitor centre. It wasn't my first visit. Many years ago, when it was called Calder Hall, we were shown into the reactor control room, and stood on top of the nuclear reactor. Of course, now you get nowhere near. There's a shiny new facility, outside the perimeter security, which presents a sanitised clean view of the nuclear industry. What shocked me most was the emphasis everywhere on private enterprise, shareholders and profits.

There is no PLAN A to deal with the deadly plutonium, let alone a PLAN B. Meanwhile, our government wants to build more nuclear power stations, and upgrade our nuclear weapons, to produce yet more nuclear waste to add to the dustbin.