AN MP from the North-East who has studied the "massive" cost of nuclear power stations has joined a campaign to fight Tony Blair's plans for new plants - including one in the region.

Helen Goodman, Labour MP for Bishop Auckland, County Durham, warned that Britain would face a crippling multi-billion pound bill for clearing up radioactive waste if new power stations were built.

With other backbenchers, Ms Goodman has urged the Prime Minister to recognise the "enormous potential" for cutting energy consumption and developing wind and wave power instead.

Mr Blair sparked a furious row this week when he said it would be impossible to meet future needs and meet greenhouse gas targets without a new wave of nuclear power stations.

His comments came only a week after The Northern Echo revealed that one of the world's biggest chemical companies has offered to part-finance a new plant in the North-East. Huntsman - facing rising gas and electricity prices - has said it will help offset the estimated £1bn building cost by signing a 20-year deal to take the plant's power.

With other Teesside chemical companies also interested, it greatly increases the chances of Hartlepool's nuclear power station being replaced when it is decommissioned in 2014.

Before winning her Westminster seat last year, Ms Goodman was a senior treasury civil servant studying the funding needs of the state-owned British Nuclear Fuels.

Ms Goodman pointed out the bill for dealing with Britain's existing nuclear waste was already £66bn - with no solution yet found for where to put it.

She said: "My concern is that the costs of nuclear power will turn out to be much higher than otherwise thought, because the waste has to be looked after for 60,000 years.

"My experience was that the industry always underestimated the true cost. When you look in detail at the numbers, you realise the waste is a massive problem."

Ms Goodman said she hoped MPs would be given a vote before the go-ahead was given to build new nuclear plants if, as expected, they required different subsidy or planning rules.

She is supported by former Labour environment ministers Michael Meacher and Elliot Morley.

It is the second time in a week that Ms Goodman has found herself at odds with the Prime Minister. She is a member of the Compass pressure group, condemned as dangerously left-wing by Mr Blair, who warned its agenda would send Labour to defeat.