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Some Kabbalah followers are even said to believe that nuclear waste is the cause of the Aids epidemic.

Madonna has said: “According to science we aren’t going to have a planet in about 50 years at the rate we’re going with nuclear waste.

“I can write the greatest songs and make the most fabulous films and be a fashion icon and conquer the world, but if there isn’t a world to conquer, what’s the point?

“I’ve just come to a place in my life where I’m trying to really see what the big picture is and where my energy is better spent, and that’s one area I’m really concerned about.”

The Kabbalah Centre is believed to have sponsored Oroz, a “23rd-century” research body in New York that heralded a “breakthrough” in neutralising radioactive waste.

Dr Artur Spokojny, the director of Oroz and a Kabbalah follower, is said to have developed a “revolutionary” decontamination agent called Orodyne, which can reportedly also treat gynaecological problems in cows and sheep.

Three years ago the research centre claimed it had experimented with the agent in Lake Glyboke near Chernobyl and had successfully decontaminated the water.

BNFL says it was approached by “a Mr Ritchie” at that time. Ritchie was told by one senior executive that the scheme defied the laws of physics but he persisted and was referred to a team led by Sue Ion, BNFL’s executive director of technology, said to have “a brain the size of a planet”.

The industry is trying to find ways to dispose of enough waste to fill five Royal Albert Halls, with more on the way if plans for new nuclear power stations go ahead, so anyone with a viable solution could expect a sympathetic hearing.

Paul Vallance, director of communications for British Nuclear Group, the nuclear clean-up arm of BNFL, said: “If Mr Ritchie, or anyone else for that matter, has such a solution we would be more than happy to speak to them.”

Madonna was not available to comment because she is on tour in Germany.

A spokeswoman said: “I’ve spoken to Guy’s office and I don’t think he is going to be available to talk about this . . . I don’t think it’s top of the list of things they are working on at the moment.”

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