OPPOSITION is growing to proposals to store and treat radioactive waste from across the country at Hinkley Point A as West Somerset Council leaders prepare for a high level meeting with the organisation behind the plans.

As exclusively revealed in the Free Press last month, the Government quango the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency (NDA) has put forward "credible options" for intermediate waste disposal and the treatment of fuel element debris.

District councillors only discovered the proposals by chance and after putting pressure on the NDA have managed to extend a consultation deadline and secure a meeting with the agency's top brass next Tuesday.

Andrew Goodchild, the council's planning manager, said: "While the consultation period has not allowed the council to undertake detailed or planned work within the community with parish and town councils or with other councils, coverage in the West Somerset Free Press and informal engagement has led to the council being made aware of three parish council responses and the responses of both Sedgemoor District Council and Somerset County Council."

He said Stogursey, Kilve and Williton parish councils had all objected, as had the county council and neighbouring Sedgemoor.

Somerset County Council had also criticised the NDA's "inadequate" consultation with potential host communities and said it was concerned about the cumulative impact of development at the Hinkley Point site.

The authority said more information was needed on the benefits and justification for storing waste from elsewhere at Hinkley and called for evidence to prove claims that Hinkley A was a good storage site because of the high radioactivity of existing waste at the station.

The NDA has already whittled down a long list of 22 options for the storage of intermediate waste to just eight options, with one involving the transport of such waste from Dungeness in Kent to Hinkley Point.

The list for the treatment of fuel element debris originally stood at 14 but has been reduced to nine options, four of which involve Hinkley A taking on waste from either Sizewell A in Suffolk or Oldbury in Gloucestershire or both.

West Somerset Council's ruling cabinet will ask the full council next Wednesday to object to the proposals on public health, terrorism and economic grounds.

They have also voiced their "disappointment" at the lack of direct consultation despite being the host authority.

Despite the highly contentious nature of the plans, neither West Somerset Council, Stogursey residents or Sedgemoor District Council were directly asked for their views by the NDA.

The NDA said it had spoken to the Hinkley Site Stakeholders' Group - which includes district councillors from both West Somerset and Sedgemoor - about its plans.

Bill Hamilton, head of stakeholder relations at the NDA, claimed no "proposals" were on the table at this stage, only "options", and said the NDA was being open and transparent about its waste disposal strategy by "engaging" with local authorities.

A full public consultation would only be held once the NDA had whittled down its credible options to either "one or two" preferred options.

Councillors at Wednesday's council meeting will be given a verbal report on Tuesday's discussions with the NDA, which will be attended by representatives from Hinkley Point A owners Magnox, council leader Cllr Tim Taylor, Hinkley lead member Cllr Chris Morgan, chief executive Adrian Dyer and Mr Goodchild.

The council has until June 30 to make its representations to the NDA after the deadline for comments was extended from June 9.

The NDA is hoping to reduce costs by minimising the number of sites dealing with waste treatment and storage from decommissioned nuclear power station sites run by its contractor Magnox.