Swathes of nuclear waste are set to be buried in the English countryside after ministers agreed to dig a 650ft pit starting this decade. The facility, which has yet to be allocated a site, will hold some of the 5m tonnes of waste that was generated by nuclear power stations over the past seven decades. This will ease pressure on the 17 nuclear waste disposal plants currently in operation around the country, which consist of giant sheds and cooling ponds. The largest facility is the Sellafield site in Cumbria. Plans for the 650ft pit will see it house so-called intermediate-level waste, possibly in a mine on a pre-existing nuclear site to minimise planning objections. The facility will be separate from the much deeper geological disposal site that will hold the UK’s most dangerous waste, such as plutonium, which is unlikely to be built until after 2050. The proposals come amid fears Britain’s stockpile of nuclear waste will grow in the coming decades with nowhere to put it. Concerns are particularly acute as the Government is currently planning to build at least three new nuclear power stations. This will put the country at odds with the 1976 review of nuclear waste...