EAST Lancashire MP Nigel Evans has contacted Environment Minister Michael Meacher over plans to dump 30,000 bags of nuclear waste containing depleted uranium on a tip near the River Ribble.
He wants the dumping stopped and an official investigation into the issue.
The material, from British Nuclear Fuels Springfields plant, will be mixed with PVC clothing, paper and other flammable materials.
It will be in plastic bags containing between five and 15 kilos of mixed waste with not more than 0.2 per cent of the radioactive material.
The waste used to go to a BNFL-owned tip in Drigg in Cumbria and buried in concrete but the site is filling up so 600 kilos will not go the the Lancashire Waste Services dump three miles outside Preston.
A BNFL employee complained about a health risk to the Guardian newspaper but a company spokesman said it took its environmental and safety responsibilities safely.
Ribble Valley Tory Mr Evans said: "This is an unacceptable situation. If the material catches fire, radioactive smoke could easily drift over East Lancashire.
"If it gets into the River Ribble there could be a major contamination.
"I have spoken to Mr Meacher who has promised to look into it. I have also written to him to ask him to instigate an inquiry into why waste containing depleted uranium is to be dumped by BNFL on a municipal dump on the River Ribble three miles from Preston."
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