The government has been condemned for its failure to develop a coherent policy on radioactive waste management. A report by the House of Lords science and technology committee found that the government instructed a new advisory body to start with a blank sheet on drawing up a strategy, without consulting its scientific experts. Lord Oxburgh, chairman, was "dismayed" by the lack of urgency. "The UK has generated radioactive waste for more than half a century and still hasn't decided how to deal with it," he said. Fiona Harvey