Nirex hires Laing Henry for `environmental’ drive

Nirex, the agency responsible for the disposal of radioactive waste, is launching a national press campaign and has hired Laing Henry to handle the account.

The ad campaign is a response to increased opposition to Nirex from environmental groups, including Greenpeace, which has criticised plans to build a nuclear waste dump at Sellafield. Nirex, funded by BNFL, Nuclear Electric, the AEA, Scottish Power and the Department of Trade & Industry, has established an underground laboratory to investigate the geology of the Sellafield site.

The campaign, which launches in two weeks, is designed to increase awareness of the organisation.

“There is confusion about who does what in the nuclear industry,” says Nirex spokesman Tom Curtin. “This company is involved in responsible environmental management, but at the moment it is not associated with that.”

Greenpeace has criticised the ad campaign. “It will not do any harm, but rather than launch an ad campaign it should be committing itself to a wider public inquiry into its Sellafield plans. That is the crucial point, not what Nirex is and what it does,” says Greenpeace nuclear campaigner Bridget Woodman.