LOCAL environmentalists fear that changes in the law could result in prison sentences for people discussing details about the nuclear industry.

The Government's proposed Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act being debated this week will make it illegal for local groups to tell the public about nuclear waste travelling on local railway lines.

The maximum penalty for such an offence is 7 years in prison.

Under the new law the Citizen front page of two weeks ago, which highlighted safety concerns at Heysham nuclear power plants, could well be considered illegal.

The local Green Party has also discovered that it would be illegal to tell the local public about the dangers of an aircraft crashing into the cooling ponds at Heysham nuclear power station which could effectively lead to a meltdown because the aircraft fuel would catch fire.

Gisela Reynolds of Lancaster Green Party said: "We must resist the Government's attempts to criminalise the dissemination of information about the dangers associated with nuclear power stations. It is an outrageous attempt by Government to keep the public in the dark about the dangers of nuclear power at a time when the Government's Energy Review is considering the construction of a further 15 nuclear power stations in the UK."

She added: "It is possible that Heysham will be considered as one of the sites for a new nuclear power station and the public need to know the risks of prolonging our dependency on nuclear power."