Borough residents living downwind of an incinerator recently primed to burn radioactive waste need more information about any potential risks according to Richmond's Green Party member.

The Environment Agency (EA) has granted Grundon's Clinical Waste Incinerator at Colnbrook permission to burn the radioactive materials from a nearby hospital along with alpha-emitting waste, which has been linked to cancer.

The prevailing wind to Richmond comes from the direction of the Slough-based facility.

The alpha-emitting waste will include materials such as contaminated swabs, packaging and empty containers - but not enough is publically known about the precise nature of the waste, said Green Party member James Page.

"We just do not know what the risks are - it has all been done behind closed doors. The EA say that alpha-emitting waste will only be 0.002 per cent of waste burned, but it is meaningless if you do not know what the waste is and how radioactive it is.

"Also, is this the safest method of disposal? It is crazy that a planning application has to take into consideration environmental impact, but a decision like this does not need planning permission.

"It is up to the council on behalf of the residents to find out more."

Coun Martin Elengorn, cabinet member for environment on Richmond upon Thames Council and the borough's West London Waste Authority (WLWA) member, was not aware of the recent developments.

"I do not know if it is even true. There must be concern if there was something west of us where the prevailing wind blows from. We would want to go into this to see if there are adequate safeguards," he said.

Slough Borough Council has reportedly not welcomed the move and were not consulted before permission was given.

A spokeswoman for the EA confirmed that permission had been given and said: "We are happy there will be no adverse effects to the environment."

She added that a new burner had been built at the facility and that none of the waste would be released into the environment.

WLWA could soon elect to incinerate the borough's household rubbish at the Colnbrook facility. The WLWA recently took the mayor of London to court over directions issued by Ken Livingstone that would have prohibited such disposal - they were ruled to be unlawful earlier this year and Grundon is expected to tender for the contract.