ENERGY minister Charles Hendry said land next to the River Severn was appropriate for a new generation of nuclear reactors during a visit to the site near Thornbury.

He spent several hours at the existing Oldbury atomic station to meet those who run the ageing plant's two reactors and to look across mist- shrouded farmland in Shepperdine where energy company Horizon wants up to three more.

His visit came a day after he met representatives from eight sites around the country which are being considered for new nuclear stations to help meet Britain's energy demands.

They included Gareth Williams, a professor of medicine at Bristol University and member of SANE – Shepperdine Against Nuclear Energy.

Mr Hendry said nuclear energy had an important role to play in providing the UK with its future energy, along with other low-carbon sources, and the Government was looking at sites which could be developed by 2025.

He said all eight on the list fell into that category, although final decisions would be up to developers, and all were appropriate locations.

Asked if that meant opponents were wasting their time in fighting proposals for Oldbury, he said every concern put to the Government would be looked at and considered.

But although local opinion was important, he said it was not the deciding factor.

Mr Hendry said: "We think new nuclear has an important role to play. We recognise that wherever you put a nuclear power station, it's going to be a very visible structure."

He said it made "a great deal of sense" to put a new atomic plant where there was an existing base of nuclear skills and that in all eight locations, there were people comfortable with the prospect of having new stations.

The minister also moved to assure people about safety, including the design of the reactors and their "tough" assessment by the nuclear regulators and Environment Agency.

He said: "I think people can be reassured that our top priority is safety and we won't take any risks."

Storage of radioactive waste on site at Oldbury, which is in a flood plain, is a major concern of opponents but Mr Hendry said work was progressing with "greater urgency" on finding a national site for long-term disposal.

Two locations in Cumbria were being considered with the support of local communities but he said its scale was such that realistically it could be 20 to 30 years before any facility could be ready.

Horizon is involved in two sites and wants to build at Wylfa in North Wales before moving on to Oldbury if the sites get approval.

Dave Gardner, commercial director of Horizon, was at Oldbury with Mr Hendry and said it was a useful opportunity to explain its proposals to the minister.

Opponents of the plan claim the site is too environmentally important to lose and say they have major concerns about the size of the new plant – much bigger than the existing station – and the impact of radioactivity on people's health. Oldbury is also the only site where massive cooling towers would be needed to make up for insufficient water from the river.

A public meeting is being held tonight at 6.30pm in Rockhampton village hall, near Thornbury, to debate the scheme.