I would like to thank the Petitions Committee for their report and the 7,171 people who raised the petition regarding marine licence 12/45/ML. I, like the petitioners and thousands of other people across Wales, am deeply concerned about the plans by the French nuclear energy company to dump irradiated sediment off our coast. The south Wales coast is a very important ecosystem—home to a wide variety of flora and fauna. The coastline in my region is home to several of the world’s top beaches. We should be taking every action in order to protect this important part of our ecology. We saw licences granted to dredge sand that destroyed our beaches, entertained the idea of building a vast offshore windfarm that threatened to endanger a school of harbour porpoise, and now they're content to allow 300,000 tonnes of potentially radioactive sediment from England to be dumped just off our coast.

I know that, according to the licence holder, the sediment from the nuclear power station has been tested and deemed to be no threat to humans and not classed as radioactive under UK law, however there are concerns that that testing methodology was not sufficiently robust. The testing methodology only looked at the top metre of sediment and only looked at gamma particles. Research conducted elsewhere shows that higher concentrations of radionuclides are found at depths greater than 1 metre. We also know that there are 16 times more radionuclides produced by nuclear reactors than were tested for.

The sediment surveys tested for caesium-137, cobalt-60 and americium-241, but what about plutonium or curium? Why were these not tested for? What about strontium or tritium? Do these radionuclides not carry a risk to human health? Of course they do, but they were not tested for, and nor were the 50 other radionuclides known to be present in discharge from these old nuclear power plants.

In these circumstances, we should be adopting the precautionary principle. Until there is a thorough scientifically robust, independent safety inspection conducted on this sediment, the licence should be suspended. If the report categorically deems the sediment to be safe for humans, wildlife and the environment, then consideration may be given to grant a licence. But until then, we risk doing untold damage to our ecosystem, threatening the viability of some of the world’s top beaches like Rhossili and Three Cliffs Bay.

I plead with the Welsh Government: order more testing, don’t risk our amazing beaches, don’t endanger our wildlife, put Wales first.