Concerns have been raised by an environmental action group, as a recycling facility seeks permission to store radioactive waste at a town port.

An application for an Environment Agency permit to store low-level radioactive waste at the Port of Workington, submitted by metal recycling facility Cyclife Ltd, based as Lillyhall, has sparked outrage among those opposed to the nuclear industry.

After hearing about the application – which will see the lowest 10% of the low-level waste category stored in 40 containers at the site if granted – the UK and Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) group raised a number of issues, calling for the EA to refuse the permit.

Key areas of concern for the group include the proximity of the containers to residents’ homes, as well as the “increase in radioactively contaminated metal entering the scrap metal market”.

NFLA steering committee chair, Councillor David Blackburn, said: “The NFLA is concerned, with this application for an environmental permit at Workington Port, that the market for recycling radioactively contaminated scrap metal is growing, with an ensuing public safety risk.

“This application is also close to a residential area, and there are some rare butterfly and invertebrate species in near proximity to it as well.”

He continued: “We are particularly concerned that this appears to be part of a wider nuclear industry push to dilute and disperse radioactive materials rather than concentrate and contain them.

“As such, we call on the Environment Agency to reject the application.”

Joe Robinson, managing director of Cyclife, responded to the group’s comments, explaining that the company is seeking a permit to implement temporary storage at the port, “providing contingency for potential changes in demand for services" related to the UK decommissioning programme.

He said: “The Cyclife business is an integral part of the national waste infrastructure required to support the UK’s nuclear licensed sites in both operation and decommissioning.

“Cyclife’s business involves shipments to and from many UK locations, as well as shipments to our sister company [in] Sweden.

“Establishing permitted storage at the Port of Workington will increase available logistics and shipping options for Cyclife, including rail and sea routes.”

Mr Robinson added that, due to the extremely low radioactivity of the waste to be stored at the port, it will have a “very low hazard potential”.

He continued: “We agree with the [NFLA’s] principle of ‘concentrate and contain’ raised by NLFA – Cyclife ensure that the radioactivity is separated from the metal that we recycle so that the radionuclides can be safely contained and disposed of to the Low Level Waste Repository."

An Environment Agency spokesperson confirmed the organisation is in the determination stage of Cyclife's application, stating that if a permit is granted, the shipping containers will be monitored.

They added: “We are aware of concerns from NFLA, and will consider all feedback before we reach a decision.”