8 months ago
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The Nuclear Free Local Authorities Welsh Forum has joined Welsh anti-nuclear groups in calling upon the organisers of the National Eisteddfod to refuse future sponsorship money from US nuclear engineering group Westinghouse.
The National Eisteddfod is an internationally-renowned celebration of Welsh culture and the Welsh language, being held during the first week of August each year. This year the festival is being held at Boduan between 5 and 12 August.
On 6 August, a party of anti-nuclear campaigners arrived at the Eisteddfod encampment after having walked 44-miles from the site of a former Magnox nuclear power plant at Trawsfynydd. Their arrival date was particularly poignant for this was the 78th anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bombing which led to the deaths of 140,000 citizens of that city by the end of 1945. An hour later there was a lecture at which Mabon ap Gwynfor, Plaid Cymru Senedd member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, gave a stirring keynote address.
Dylan Morgan from People against Wylfa B (PAWB) described the atmosphere: “The marchers had a noisy and colourful presence on Eisteddfod field. Mabon delivered the Hiroshima day lecture focussing on the insidious link between nuclear power and nuclear weapons. This was a powerful presentation which received a standing ovation”.
However there was a sour note to proceedings as activists soon espied the logo of Westinghouse, a US nuclear power and weapons manufacturer, as a commercial sponsor of the Science Pavilion at this iconic event.
Westinghouse is planning to establish an office at M-Sparc, Gaerwen, Ynys Môn to develop expertise in nuclear decommissioning, and has, with its US engineering partner Bechtel, expressed an interest in developing a new nuclear power plant on a former Magnox nuclear site at Wylfa, also Ynys Môn, and has been courting island politicians and government ministers to do so.
Both companies have a lamentable record when it comes to delivering civil nuclear power plant projects in their native United States. Westinghouse went bankrupt in attempting to build the Virgil C Summer plant in South Carolina, and several of its then senior executives were charged with criminal activity. The unfinished plant was abandoned with state taxpayers picking up the multi-billion-dollar bill for the abortive project. Bechtel has just finished the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia, which is equipped with two Westinghouse reactors; however, construction finished years behind schedule and hugely over budget.
However, campaigners were still more horrified to learn about Westinghouse’s contribution to the production of US weapons of mass destruction, for investigations have revealed that the company has a division, the Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility, which manufactures radioactive tritium gas that forms a component of all US nuclear weapons.
To accept sponsorship money from Westinghouse for the Science Pavilion seems to the Welsh NFLAs grossly hypocritical especially as the Eisteddfod has ‘peace’ at the heart of its Gorsedd ceremonies every year.
Councillor Sue Lent, Chair of the Welsh NFLA Forum and a former Greenham Common campaigner against US cruise missiles, explained:
“The National Eisteddfod is a registered charity with a specific remit to celebrate and promote Welsh culture and language. It is governed by a constitution and a set of standing orders that specifically prohibit sponsorship by companies with military links. In accepting sponsorship from Westinghouse, the festival organisers, however unwittingly, have damaged their credibility in failing to adhere to their own principles.
“It is the greatest irony that one of the most prominent of the Druidic ceremonies that takes place on the site involves returning a massive sword into its sheath as the Archdruid hopefully asks those in attendance ‘Is there peace?’ to which the audience responds by shouting ‘Peace’. This year that peace has been undermined by taking money from a manufacturer involved in the production of weapons of mass destruction.”
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For more information, please contact NFLA Secretary Richard Outram by email on richard.outram@manchester.gov.uk
The joint statement condemning Westinghouse sponsorship reads:
IS THERE PEACE? PRESS RELEASE
The National Eisteddfod receives sponsorship money for the Science Pavilion from nuclear power and arms company Westinghouse from the United States.
- Westinghouse recently announced that they are setting up an office at M-Sparc, Gaerwen, Ynys Môn to develop nuclear decomissioning skills.
- https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/nuclear-giant-open-new-offices-27229536
- In 2017, Toshiba Westinghouse went bankrupt after having to abandon building new nuclear reactors at the V.C.Summer site in South Carolina 40% into construction. Six directors were charged with financial fraud in the U.S. Federal Court.
- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/business/westinghouse-toshiba-nuclear-bankruptcy.html
- https://www.justice.gov/usao-sc/pr/westinghouse-director-during-nuclear-debacle-pleads-guilty-federal-court-making-false
- The Westinghouse Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility on a secretive corner of their site produce radioactive tritium gas. This tritium is then sent to the Savannah River site in South Carolina where it is prepared to be inserted in all U.S. nuclear weapons.
- https://www.einnews.com/amp/pr_news/556729184/report-details-secretive-nuclear-weapons-related-work-at-westinghouse-commercial-nuclear-fuel-plant-in-columbia-sc
CADNO (Society for the Prevention of Everlasting Nuclear Destruction), CND Cymru (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Wales), Cymdeithas y Cymod (The Fellowship of Reconciliation in Wales), Cymdeithas yr Iaith (The Welsh Language Society), PAWB (People against Wylfa B) and the Welsh NFLAs call on the National Eisteddfod to reject any sponsorship from Westinghouse in future Eisteddfodau due to their connection to terrifying arms of mass destruction.
CADNO – Deilwen Evans
CND Cymru – Jill Evans
Cymdeithas y Cymod – Rhun Dafydd – 07449 326476
Cymdeithas yr Iaith – Robat Idris 07799 416696
PAWB – Dylan Morgan 07391 814235
UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities Welsh Forum – Secretary Richard Outram richard.outram@manchester.gov.uk
Datganiad cyfryngau NFLA, 11 Awst 2023, i’w ddefnyddio ar unwaith
A oes heddwch? NFLA yn ymuno ag actifyddion o Gymru wrth alw am wahardd nawdd cwmni Westinghouse i’r Eisteddfod Genedlaethol
Mae Fforwm Cymru Awdurdodau Lleol Di-Niwclear wedi ymuno â grwpiau gwrth-niwclear Cymru i alw ar drefnwyr yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol i wrthod nawdd ariannol yn y dyfodol gan grŵp peirianneg niwclear o’r Unol Daleithiau, Westinghouse.
Mae’r Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yn ddathliad byd-enwog o ddiwylliant Cymru a’r iaith Gymraeg, sy’n cael ei chynnal yn ystod wythnos gyntaf mis Awst bob blwyddyn. Eleni mae’r ŵyl yn cael ei chynnal ym Moduan rhwng 5 a 12 Awst.
Ar 6 Awst, cyrhaeddodd parti o ymgyrchwyr gwrthniwclear faes yr Eisteddfod ar ôl cerdded 44 milltir o safle hen bwerdy niwclear Magnox yn Nhrawsfynydd. Roedd eu dyddiad cyrraedd yn arbennig o ingol gan mai hyn oedd 78 mlynedd ers bomio atomig Hiroshima a arweiniodd at farwolaethau 140,000 o ddinasyddion y ddinas honno erbyn diwedd 1945. Awr yn ddiweddarach cafwyd rali lle rhoddodd Mabon ap Gwynfor, aelod Senedd Plaid Cymru dros Ddwyfor Meirionnydd, brif anerchiad cyffrous.
Disgrifiodd Dylan Morgan o Pobl Atal Wylfa B (PAWB) yr awyrgylch: “Roedd gan y gorymdeithwyr bresenoldeb swnllyd a lliwgar ar faes yr Eisteddfod. Traddododd Mabon ddarlith diwrnod Hiroshima yn canolbwyntio ar y cysylltiad llechwraidd rhwng ynni niwclear ac arfau niwclear. Roedd hwn yn gyflwyniad grymus a arweiniodd at y gynulleidfa yn cymeradwyo ar eu traed”.
Fodd bynnag, roedd nodyn sur i drafodion wrth i ymgyrchwyr sylwi ar logo Westinghouse, gwneuthurwr pŵer ac arfau niwclear o’r Unol Daleithiau, fel noddwr masnachol y Pafiliwn Gwyddoniaeth yn y digwyddiad eiconig hwn.
Mae Westinghouse yn bwriadu sefydlu swyddfa yn M-Sparc, Gaerwen, Ynys Môn i ddatblygu arbenigedd mewn datgomisiynu niwclear, ac wedi mynegi diddordeb mewn datblygu gorsaf bŵer niwclear newydd ar hen safle niwclear Magnox yn Wylfa, Ynys Môn hefyd, ac mae wedi bod yn ceisio dwyn perswad ar wleidyddion Môn a gwienidogion llywodraeth i wneud hynny.
Mae gan y ddau gwmni record druenus o ran cyflawni prosiectau gorsaf bŵer niwclear sifil yn yr Unol Daleithiau. Aeth Westinghouse yn fethdalwr wrth geisio adeiladu adweithyddion niwclear ar safle Virgil C Summer yn Ne Carolina, a chyhuddwyd nifer o’i uwch swyddogion gweithredol ar y pryd o weithgaredd troseddol. Rhoddwyd y gorau i’r gwaith anorffenedig gyda threthdalwyr y wladwriaeth yn codi’r bil gwerth biliynau o ddoleri ar gyfer y prosiect a ataliwyd. Mae Bechtel newydd orffen gorsaf bŵer niwclear Vogtle yn Georgia, sydd â dau adweithydd Westinghouse; Fodd bynnag, gorffennodd y gwaith adeiladu flynyddoedd y tu ôl i’r amserlen ac yn aruthrol dros y gyllideb.
Fodd bynnag, roedd ymgyrchwyr wedi’u brawychu mwy fyth o ddysgu am gyfraniad Westinghouse i gynhyrchu arfau dinistr torfol yr Unol Daleithiau, oherwydd mae ymchwiliadau wedi datgelu bod gan y cwmni adran, Cyfleuster Saernïo Tanwydd Columbia, sy’n cynhyrchu nwy tritiwm ymbelydrol sy’n ffurfio cydran o holl arfau niwclear yr UD.
Mae’n ymddangos bod derbyn arian nawdd gan Westinghouse ar gyfer y Pafiliwn Gwyddoniaeth yn hynod ragrithiol yn enwedig gan fod ‘heddwch’ yn rhan mor ganolog o brif seremonïau gorseddol y Eisteddfod.
Eglurodd y Cynghorydd Sue Lent, Cadeirydd Fforwm NFLA Cymru a chyn-ymgyrchydd Comin Greenham yn erbyn taflegrau mordeithio yr Unol Daleithiau:
“Mae’r Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yn elusen gofrestredig gyda chylch gwaith penodol i ddathlu a hyrwyddo’r diwylliant a’r iaith Gymraeg. Mae’n cael ei lywodraethu gan gyfansoddiad a set o reolau sefydlog sy’n gwahardd yn benodol nawdd gan gwmnïau sydd â chysylltiadau milwrol. Wrth dderbyn nawdd gan Westinghouse, mae trefnwyr yr ŵyl, waeth pa mor ddiarwybod, wedi niweidio ei hygrededd wrth fethu â chadw at eu hegwyddorion eu hunain.
“Yr eironi mwyaf yw bod un o’r amlycaf o’r seremonïau Derwyddol sy’n digwydd ar y safle yn cynnwys dychwelyd cleddyf enfawr i’w wain gan fod yr Archdderwydd yn gofyn i’r rhai sy’n bresennol ‘A oes heddwch?’ Mae’r gynulleidfa’n ymateb iddo trwy weiddi heddwch. Eleni mae’r heddwch hwnnw wedi cael ei danseilio drwy gymryd arian gan wneuthurwr sy’n ymwneud â chynhyrchu arfau dinistr torfol.”
Diwedd//…
Am fwy o wybodaeth, cysylltwch ag Ysgrifennydd yr NFLA, Richard Outram drwy e-bost ar richard.outram@manchester.gov.uk
Mae’r datganiad ar y cyd sy’n condemnio nawdd Westinghouse yn darllen:
A OES HEDDWCH? DATGANIAD I’R WASG
Yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yn derbyn arian nawdd i’r Babell Wyddoniaeth gan gwmni ynni ac arfau niwclear Westinghouse o’r Unol Daleithiau.
Cyhoeddodd Westinghouse yn ddiweddar eu bod yn sefydlu swyddfa yn Mharc Gwyddoniaeth Menai yn Gaerwen, Ynys Môn i ddatblygu sgiliau dadgomisiynu niwclear.
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/nuclear-giant-open-new-offices-27229536
Aeth cwmni Toshiba Westinghouse yn fethdalwr yn 2017 ar ôl gorfod gadael prosiect adeiladu adweithyddion niwclear ar safle V.C.Summer yn Ne Carolina 40% y ffordd i mewn i’r adeiladu. Erlynwyd chwech o gyfarwyddwyr yn Llys Ffederal yr Unol Daleithiau ar gyhuddiadau o dwyll ariannol.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/business/westinghouse-toshiba-nuclear-bankruptcy.html
Mae’r Westinghouse Columbia Fuel Fabrictaion Facility ar gornel gyfrinachol o’u safle yn cynhyrchu nwy tritiwm ymbelydrol. Mae’r tritiwm hwn yn cael ei anfon wedyn i safle Savannah River yn Ne Carolina lle mae’n cael ei baratoi i gael ei roi yn holl arfau niwclear yr Unol Daleithiau.
Mae CADNO (Cymdeithas Atal Dinistrio Niwclear Tragwyddol), CND Cymru, Cymdeithas y Cymod, Cymdeithas yr Iaith, PAWB (Pobl yn erbyn Wylfa B) a’r NFLAs Cymreig yn galw ar yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol i wrthod unrhyw nawdd gan Westinghouse mewn Eisteddfodau yn y dyfodol oherwydd eu cysylltiad â breichiau dychrynllyd dinistr torfol.
