"They have been burying nuclear waste at the base of the mountain for many years," he said.

The agency then questioned other companies, and four out of 10 reported burying such wastes.

"But that's like burying toxic waste," he said in a low voice.

The decision was a major setback to the government's 17-year effort to bury nuclear waste at the repository, which has cost about $9 billion.

Switching from burying waste to burning it would represent a change of government policy.

Today, she was digging holes with a green shovel to bury litter and waste.

She said she believes the church members violated no laws if all they did was bury human medical waste, which is subject to different rules.

Energy can be recovered from burying or burning waste.

But Finland and Sweden do plan to begin burying wastes in the next few years.

A landfill site used to bury waste from the whole of the West Somerset region can be found further out.