4. Will the First Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's policy on nuclear waste disposal in Wales? OAQ54582

Llywydd, the Welsh Government has not identified any sites or communities in Wales where a geological disposal facility could be sited, nor will we seek to do so. The Welsh Government's policy is clear: a GDF can only be built in Wales if there is a community willing to host it, and a local authority willing to give its consent.

First Minister, last year, there was an enormous protest here against mud being dumped in Welsh waters that had been dredged from outside Hinkley C nuclear reactor without the full range of testing that could and should have been done. The campaign generated international publicity, with coverage on Al Jazeera, Russia Today, the BBC, German news, Pakistani news, and many other news outlets. [Interruptions.] But your Labour Party and the AMs here ignored the protests and the clear public outrage and voted for the dumping to happen. Your own Deputy Minister—

Allow the Member to be heard, please.

—has taken to Twitter to take issue with the building of Hinkley C, asking what could be achieved with the billions upon billions of pounds spent there. So, when EDF Energy returns to the Welsh Government to ask for permission to dump a second round of mud dredged from outside of a nuclear reactor not even in Wales, will you do three things? This is the question. Firstly, will you demand that a full environmental impact assessment takes place this time? Secondly, will you demand that the full range of radiation testing takes place, including alpha, gamma and mass spectrometry? And thirdly, will you give your Labour AMs a free vote next time instead of whipping them to vote for the dumping to take place?

Llywydd, no such application has been received.

In the summer recess, I had the pleasure of visiting the Hinkley Point construction site and found that that opportunity presents to 25 per cent of the workforce being Welsh based, and it's really important that the benefits of that spend—£19 billion in total—is felt in the Welsh economy as well. What action is the Welsh Government undertaking to make sure that Welsh companies are to the fore when it comes to contracts being awarded on that construction, and in particular, the promotion of the skills that are available to employees to find work in that particular project?

Llywydd, I agree with the Member that the economic opportunities need to be taken and made available to Welsh workers. Actions taken by my colleague Ken Skates have made sure that those opportunities are well advertised to workers in Wales.

I recently attended a conference call by Unite: The Union, in which they foregrounded the actions that they have taken to make sure that the skills of Welsh workers are known to the employers in that project, and that where opportunities arise, Welsh workers are able to avail themselves of them.