NORTH Yorkshire was seriously considered as a dumping ground for nuclear waste, shock new documents have revealed.

The information, kept under wraps until now, showed how the last Tory Government put sites - including Strensall, Elvington, Linton-on-Ouse, Barlow and Monk Fryston - on a secret list of places thought potentially suitable for burying radioactive material.

Most locations were discounted quickly - but five remained on the list until near the end of the selection process.

Nirex, the organisation responsible for dealing with intermediate-level waste, revealed a "long-list" of 537 UK sites considered as nuclear "dustbins". But this was whittled down in six stages to 12.

Sites at Dishforth, Forest Moor, Fylingdales, Harrogate, Ripon, Tholthorpe and Wombleton were identified in North Yorkshire, but removed at the first stage.

East Moor Airfield was dismissed in the second round, because its ownership was unknown.

Barlow - near Drax Power Station - Monk Fryston and Topcliffe, plus RAF airfields at Church Fenton, Elvington and Linton-on-Ouse were considered too small. But Strensall Common army camp, near York, RAF Leeming, an army firing range at Feldom, Catterick Army Barracks and the disused Burn Airfield, near Selby, made it to the fourth stage.

Each base was right for location, ownership and size. But they were eventually rejected because the geology of the area was considered unsuitable.

The information was disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, which came into force on January 1.

The list, drawn up in the 1980s but kept alive until John Major's landslide defeat in 1997, would have sparked uproar had it been released at the time.

Anti-nuclear campaigners would have protested vociferously at proposals to dump potentially-deadly nuclear waste, which protestors claim can cause leukaemia, in the county.

The list was kept under wraps by the Government and Nirex, until Friday.

Now the Government is drawing up a new waste management strategy, although Nirex insists the old list will not form the basis of any search for a nuclear dump.

Managing director Chris Murray said: "Dealing with the waste is as much an ethical and social issue as a scientific and technical one. This is the key lesson we have learned from the past."

But environmental journalist Rob Edwards said it was a sign of the "inherent secrecy" of the nuclear industry.

He said: "Nirex wanted to keep it out of the General Election. The Government feared releasing this information could cause planning blight and panic in the areas."

Updated: 10:24 Monday, June 13, 2005