NUCLEAR lobbyists are planning a “public information campaign,” they announced yesterday, to persuade the public that burying radioactive waste in Britain is safe.

It is due to launch early next month after “experts” claimed that 30 per cent of Britain excluding Scotland was “suitable” for disposing of dangerous nuclear waste in boreholes and caverns 200 to 1,000 metres below ground.

The £4 billion proposal for geological dumping declares that waste would remain safe for hundreds of thousands of years.

But plans for such disposal in west Cumbria were scuppered in 2013 because of local opposition and planning and consultation will delay the first burial of nuclear waste until at least 2040.

The “more difficult” part for lobbyists is “overcoming the social and political challenges,” said Radioactive Waste Management (RMW) science and technology director Alun Ellis.