Its second choice is at another nuclear site, Dounreay in Caithness, Scotland. But it also put a question mark over the policy of building a pounds 2.5bn, 3,000ft-deep system of caverns for nuclear waste.
Nirex, the waste-disposal company owned by the nation’s nuclear industry, has spent more than pounds 400m, and many years, working up plans for the laboratory to study disposal of intermediate-level nuclear waste at Gosforth in Cumbria.Now it may have to spend years gathering more scientific data to prove the safety of its plans, while redrawing plans to reduce the impact the laboratory would have on the Lake District National Park.Alternatively, it will have to start planning a laboratory and dump at another site and encounter fresh opposition. His surprise decision, the first time the industry has lost a major public- planning battle, delighted environmental groups and local protesters in Cumbria. Britain’s nuclear-waste disposal plans were thrown into confusion last night after John Gummer, the Secretary of State for the Environment, rejected plans for an underground test laboratory near Sellafield which would have paved the way for a subterranean radioactive dump on the same site. “A television or video will buy four or five wraps of heroin,” he said.Seizures of cannabis by customs rose by 46 per cent to 76 tonnes, making it by far the most popular drug, although police action dropped slightly.. Young females are having to prostitute themselves to feed their habit.”We now tragically see it’s relatively common for 12 and 13-year-old prostitutes on the street, which also allows paedophiles to prey on them.”He added that the heroin addicts were now using stolen electrical goods to barter directly with drug dealers. More younger people are becoming addicted to heroin and committing crime to feed their habits.

Drug agencies estimate that only 10 per cent of the heroin that comes into Britain is intercepted en route.Keith Hellawell, Chief Constable of West Yorkshire and drugs spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers, said: “The worrying trend is the use of heroin on the street The cost in some cities is the same as cannabis. The police in England and Wales made 7,880 seizures last year and while the amount recovered by Customs officers was down on the record total of 1995 they still believe the long-term trend is up. Boys and girls aged 12 and 13 are turning to prostitution to feed their heroin addiction, one police chief said.
The warnings came as Customs and Excise announced that the total amount of drugs seized in 1996 had increased by more than 60 per cent over the previous year to a record 80 tonnes – worth about pounds 500m.Joint police and customs figures, published yesterday, also revealed a record rise in the amount of cannabis seized, sharp increases in the amount of amphetamines recovered and a continuing upward trend in cocaine, but a surprise drop in ecstasy.Heroin, however, was identified as the drug causing the most concern. Growing numbers of teenagers are turning to heroin, according to police statistics released yesterday which show that the number of seizures of the drug rose by 41 per cent last year. They bear testimony to the steadfast efforts of the police, to the work of those involved in community initiatives to fight crime, and to the success of our policies to tackle crime and protect the public.”But Jack Straw, the shadow Home Secretary, said: “The modest reduction in overall crime has to be seen against a mountainous increase in crime and disorder since the Conservatives took office.”The police welcome the drop in total crimes but Fred Broughton, chairman of the Police Federation, said: “I am very concerned by the increase in reported robberies and violence against the person These are the crimes that worry the public most of all.”. Michael Howard argued that some of the increase in violent crime was due to more people reporting offences.He added: “We believe that these figures indicate a real success story.

Sussex and Norfolk both saw seven per cent increased in all reported crime, while Bedfordshire and Gwent recorded a 78 per cent rise in violent crime.All the figures are an under-estimation because many crimes are not reported or recorded. Northumbria recorded a 13 per cent annual fall – its fifth in a row – while Durham, Cheshire, North Yorkshire, and Dorset all had about a 10 per cent decline.The Metropolitan Police was the only urban force to record more crime in 1996 than in 1995, up three per cent to 840,000. Fraud and robbery also saw small increases.On the positive side, the police have continued their success in driving down the number of vehicle crimes – a two per cent drop – and burglary, which saw a six per cent decline.There were big regional differences in crime fighting. This included a 15 per cent increase in the number of female rapes, which has continued to go up by an average of 10 per cent for the past decade, to 5,700 Male rapes rose by 50 per cent to 227. Although this category only makes up seven per cent of the total number of crimes – nine out of 10 offences are against property – they have a huge impact on the victims.Offences against the person, such as mugging, increased by 26,500 to about 240,000, and more serious offences went up 17 per cent to 22,400 The number of sexual offences increased by three per cent. It was the fourth consecutive annual drop – the first time this has happened since 1900.But Labour claimed that the rise in violent crime and the near-doubling in the offences total since the Tories came to power in 1979 proved that the Conservative party’s law and order initiatives have failed.The 1996 Notifiable Offences for England and Wales, published yesterday, revealed a mix bag of achievement for the country’s police forces.Most worrying was the growing number of violent acts.