SCOTLAND’S First Minister has said that one of the benefits of remaining part of the UK is that the country can continue to dump its nuclear waste in England.

Jack McConnell was speaking during a question-andanswer session in East Lothian on the benefits for Scotland of rejecting independence.

He appeared to pre-empt the politically sensitive process of finding a suitable site for Britain’s nuclear waste repository by claiming:

“Nuclear waste is most likely in the UK to be placed in the North West of England.”

Mr McConnell said that as well as financial and other benefits, Scotland would profit by having waste from the Torness and Hunterston nuclear power stations transported and stored deep underground at whichever site was chosen. While there has been speculation that Sellafield could eventually be chosen as the deep-storage repository, ministers have been at pains to deny this.

Friends of the Earth said that it was disappointing that the First Minister appeared to be “jumping the gun”. Alex Johnstone, the Scottish Conservatives’ environment spokesman, said: “He is either talking rubbish or, worse still, he has let slip something which he was not supposed to tell us.”

By claiming that a resolution was on the way, Mr McConnell will now face pressure to say whether or not he is backing an extension of nuclear generation north of the Border.

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