The government’s energy review postponed a decision on the future status of Nirex until after the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) reports later this year. But media reports have indicated that ministers are ready to approve a proposal to transfer it into the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

Nuclear waste experts at Nirex believe that any loss of independence for the agency would fatally undermine public confidence in the future long-term management of waste, a highly controversial issue for many years.

Simon Norris, Prospect branch chair at Nirex, said: "Nirex is responsible for setting standards and specifications for the long term management of radioactive waste. In April 2005, Nirex was made independent of the nuclear industry, including the new NDA. This provided a clear separation between Nirex and the waste owners.

"This separation is now threatened by attempts to move Nirex inside the NDA. Such a retrograde step can only harm attempts to tackle the serious social, ethical and environmental problems of 60 years of nuclear waste at a time when its resolution is critical."

Independence from the waste producers – including the NDA who are responsible for THORP, the Magnox reactors and MOX – is fundamental for maintaining public confidence in the project, and providing visibility and transparency to avoid damaging conflicts of interest.

If Nirex or a future waste management organisation were subsumed into the NDA it would be responsible for setting standards on itself for the packaging of radioactive waste, creating a clear conflict of interest, says Prospect.

This conflict of interest is also recognised by an early day motion (No 2427) lodged in the House of Commons. Signed by 53 MPs, it calls for Nirex to remain an independent body and stresses that "waste must be dealt with in a sustainable and publicly-acceptable manner regardless of any decision on nuclear new-build."

Prospect is the recognised trade union for 15,000 members working for nuclear companies and public sector bodies, making it the largest union in the nuclear industry. It has members at British Nuclear Fuels, British Energy, the UK Atomic Energy Authority, Nirex, NNC, HSE’s Nuclear Installations Inspectorate and the Ministry of Defence.