3. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:41 pm on 5 March 2019.

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Photo of David Lloyd David Lloyd Plaid Cymru 2:41, 5 March 2019

Trefnydd, you will be aware of local concerns in Swansea over a planned consultation meeting by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which was due to take place next week on 12 March. The meeting was due to discuss the potential siting of a nuclear geological disposal facility. Such were the protests in Swansea that the meeting has now been cancelled—it appears online. But what has become clear over recent weeks is that the Welsh Government position on the potential siting of a geological disposal facility in Wales is unclear. Now, Labour-run Neath Port Talbot Council and Labour-run Swansea council are against siting such a radioactive dumping facility in their areas, but the Minister for the environment has previously stated that:

'The Welsh Government has not identified any potential sites or communities to host' a geological disposal facility in Wales, and that a geological disposal facility—AKA a nuclear dump—

'can only be sited in Wales if a community is willing to host it' and receive money for that pleasure. However, we find that another Government Minister, Vaughan Gething, is sponsoring a meeting with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority next week, here in the National Assembly for Wales. Now, at a packed public meeting a couple of weeks ago, people in Swansea were rightly asking, 'What is the Welsh Government's position on this?' There was disappointment that the Welsh Government has not taken a more robust line and followed the strong line propagated by Labour-run local authorities against siting such facilities in Wales. Now, in light of the concerns raised in south-west Wales, will the Welsh Government agree to bring forward a statement on geological disposal facilities in Wales?