7. Debate on Petition P-05-1003: Demand an EIA now on the dumping of radioactively contaminated mud in Welsh waters

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:26 pm on 21 October 2020.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 4:26, 21 October 2020

The safety of the nuclear power industry is something that I am concerned about too, but I don't think that is what we are discussing here. I oppose the nuclear power industry because there is no safe method of disposal of nuclear waste, but I just want to emphasise that we are not talking about the disposal of nuclear waste, potentially, in the Cardiff sound. So, we really need to be clear about that, because there is a completely different set of regulations for the disposal of nuclear waste, and this is completely separate to the process that's being described by Janet Finch-Saunders.

There are indeed concerns, because some people have been given the impression that this is nuclear waste, and I'm not clear at the moment whether they're justified, as hinted by Llyr Huws Gruffydd. However, I do think that an environmental impact assessment should have been carried out before the mud was disposed of in 2018, simply because the nuclear industry is very secretive in the way it goes about its business. Certainly, up at Sellafield and Windscale, there is a very lengthy history of hiding what's been going on from the local population. So, I think it's important that we know that what is proposed for disposal in the Cardiff sound is not in any way going to impact on the health of our citizens.

There is no way in which EDF is going to be allowed to mark its own homework, because NRW will have to decide on the basis of the environmental impact assessment whether or not this meets the criteria for disposing of waste in the Cardiff sound. So, it is NRW who will make that decision, and also they will be informed by the expert group that has been set up under the chair of Jane Davidson, which I understand has met four times to discuss this matter, and it is a pity, in a way, that we're discussing this today without having had a report from that expert group to advise us on whether or not there is any indication whatsoever that the disposal of this waste is not appropriate in the way in which the licence has been applied for. So, I think it's really important that we don't raise hares running where none exist. We need to look at the evidence, we need to rely on the scientists who understand what is harmful and what is not, and ensure that we're only disposing of material that doesn't pose any danger to the health of our citizens.