Fears have been raised that radioactive spent fuel which is being moved from Sizewell power station could increase the risk of a terrorist attack at the 2012 Olympic games.

Fears have been raised that radioactive spent fuel which is being moved from Sizewell power station could increase the risk of a terrorist attack at the 2012 Olympic games.

More than 300 train journeys will take place over the next three years to transport 52,000 spent fuel rods to the Sellafield reprocessing works in Cumbria, with the trains travelling via Stratford, near London.

With the Olympic games due to take place around Stratford in the summer of 2012, the Shut Down Sizewell campaign group has said that the containers might have to be re-routed to reduce any risks.

Peter Lanyon, the anti-nuclear group's spokesman, said: “The proposed flask train program means that the trains containing fuel rods will be travelling through the Olympic site (at Stratford) at the height of the construction of the facilities there and may be during the games themselves.

“This would be such a tempting terrorist target that there is an argument for avoiding such transport on that route.”

Direct Rail Services, which organises the nuclear transport, has told the Sizewell Stakeholder Group (SSG) that it is currently in discussion with a number of parties regarding service provision during the games.

A statement from Direct Rail Services said: “DRS runs its operations within extremely stringent safety, security and driver performance standards. All used nuclear fuel is transported in heavily shielded, purpose-built containers.

“This material has been transported in this way since 1962, travelling over eight million miles without any incident involving the release of radio active material.”

Fuel from Sizewell A is due to have been removed from the site by June 2012, but the exact finishing date depends on the reprocessing performance at Sellafield.