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The UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities have called on the UK Government to prevent future nuclear developments in national parks.
The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero has just concluded a consultation on the criteria which should be used to determine the siting of new nuclear power stations.
The NFLAs have joined with other anti-nuclear groups in making a joint submission that is critical of the government’s plan; as the government is proposing a change of policy to make siting developer-led, they were especially anxious to ensure that areas of outstanding landscapes were protected from development.
The government has already established a precedence as a decision was previously taken to exclude any part of the Lake District National Park from consideration as the location for an underground nuclear waste dump, the so-called Geological Disposal Facility. This recognised the importance of preserving this outstanding World Heritage Site from development.
Given the precedent, the NFLAs want to ensure that the new siting policy also proscribed overground nuclear developments in similar situations: this would exclude Transfynydd from nuclear redevelopment.
Trawsfynydd lies at the heart of Eryri, Wales’ largest National Park; described on the park website thus: ‘Home to over 26,000 people, Eryri’s landscape is steeped with culture, history, and heritage, where the Welsh language is part of the day-to-day fabric of the area. Nearly 4 million people visit Eryri every year to explore its towering peaks and breath-taking valleys, find tranquillity in its lesser-trodden paths and discover its extensive recreation opportunities.’
Incongruously, a Magnox nuclear plant was built on the site in 1968 in a brutalist style which completely jars against the marked beauty of the natural environment. The plant drew its cooling water from an adjoining manmade lake and in turn contaminated it. Although no longer operational and being decommissioned, the plant will remain an eyesore into the immediate future, and there are also plans to bury some radioactive waste on site as part of the decommissioning process.
It seems madness then that the Welsh Government should choose to compound the folly by working to bring a new nuclear plant to Trawsfynydd, a move which will further compromise the amenity of the park and further jeopardise its tourist economy, yet it has established a company to do just this.
Cwmni Egino is based in offices at Caernarfon with a mission to bring forward ‘potential new projects including the deployment of small nuclear reactors to generate electricity and also a medical radioisotope research reactor to produce radionuclides for use in cancer diagnostics and treatment’.[1]
The company’s mission is to industrialise the pristine Eryri landscape completely undermining the objective of the park authority to ensure its preservation and enjoyment.
The Welsh NFLAs contend that nuclear redevelopment at Trawsfynydd is both unnecessary and inappropriate.
The Welsh Government has already made a welcome commitment to generate all electricity for domestic consumption through renewables, so small modular reactors will not be generating electricity for the people of Wales. If a medical radioisotope research reactor is deemed necessary, and this is contestable as there are other means to produce medical radionuclides without recourse to nuclear fission, the NFLAs contend that it would be more appropriate to co-locate this within an existing nuclear research facility, such as that at Bangor University. This location is also far better served by the road network for transporting these products, which have a finite usable life span.
Small modular reactors are not small, and they are intrusive. They will stand stark against the beauty of the locality. Their operations would be accompanied by the possible risk of an accident and certainly lead to further radioactive contamination of the lake and the local environment. Their construction and operation would be massively detrimental to the peace and quiet enjoyed by residents and tourists. Consequently, there would be an impact on visitor numbers and the tourist economy. Nuclear redevelopment would also dilute the historic dominance of the Welsh language in the area by attracting an incoming non-Welsh speaking migrant workforce.
Ends: For more information, please contact Richard Outram, NFLA Secretary at richard.outram@manchester.gov.uk
1 https://www.gov.wales/written-statement-cwmni-egino-trawsfynydd
Datganiad Cyfryngau NFLA 11 Mawrth 2024
Mae Awdurdodau Lleol Di-Niwclear yn galw am DDIM gorsafoedd niwclear newydd mewn parciau cenedlaethol.
Mae Awdurdodau Lleol Di-Niwclear y DU/Iwerddon wedi galw ar Lywodraeth y DU i atal
datblygiadau niwclear mewn parciau cenedlaethol yn y dyfodol.
Mae’r Adran Diogelwch Ynni a Sero Net newydd gwblhau ymgynghoriad ar y meini prawf y dylid eu defnyddio i bennu lleoli gorsafoedd pŵer niwclear newydd.
Mae’r NFLAs wedi ymuno â grwpiau gwrth-niwclear eraill i wneud cyflwyniad ar y cyd sy’n feirniadol o gynllun y llywodraeth; Gan fod y Llywodraeth yn cynnig newid polisi i wneud lleoliad dan arweiniad datblygwr, roeddent yn arbennig o awyddus i sicrhau bod ardaloedd o dirweddau eithriadol yn cael eu diogelu rhag datblygiad.
Mae’r llywodraeth eisoes wedi sefydlu blaenoriaeth wrth i benderfyniad gael ei wneud yn flaenorol i eithrio unrhyw ran o Barc Cenedlaethol Ardal y Llynnoedd o’i ystyried fel lleoliad ar gyfer tympio gwastraff niwclear tanddaearol, sef y Cyfleuster Gwaredu Daearegol, fel y’i gelwir. Roedd hyn yn cydnabod pwysigrwydd cadw’r Safle Treftadaeth Byd rhagorol hwn rhag datblygu.
O ystyried y cynsail, mae’r NFLAs eisiau sicrhau bod y polisi lleoli newydd hefyd yn argymell datblygiadau niwclear tros ddaear mewn sefyllfaoedd tebyg: byddai hyn yn eithrio Transfynydd rhag ailddatblygu niwclear.
Mae Trawsfynydd yng nghalon Eryri, Parc Cenedlaethol mwyaf Cymru; Wedi’i ddisgrifio ar wefan y parc felly: ‘Yn gartref i dros 26,000 o bobl, mae tirwedd Eryri yn llawn diwylliant, hanes a threftadaeth, lle mae’r Gymraeg yn rhan o wead beunyddiol yr ardal. Mae bron i 4 miliwn o bobl yn ymweld ag Eryri bob blwyddyn i archwilio ei chopaon a’i dyffrynnoedd syfrdanol, dod o hyd i lonyddwch yn ei lwybrau llai troediedig a darganfod ei chyfleoedd hamdden helaeth.’
Yn amhendant, adeiladwyd gorsaf niwclear Magnox ar y safle ym 1968 mewn arddull brutalist sy’n llwyr jario yn erbyn harddwch nodedig yr amgylchedd naturiol. Tynnodd y planhigyn ei ddŵr oeri o lyn manmade cyfagos ac yn ei dro ei halogi. Er nad yw’n weithredol mwyach ac yn cael ei ddatgomisiynu, bydd y planhigyn yn parhau i fod yn ddolur llygad i’r dyfodol agos, ac mae cynlluniau hefyd i gladdu rhywfaint o wastraff ymbelydrol ar y safle fel rhan o’r broses ddadgomisiynu.
Mae’n ymddangos yn wallgof felly y dylai Llywodraeth Cymru ddewis cyfansoddi’r ffolineb trwy weithio i ddod â gorsaf niwclear newydd i Drawsfynydd, cam a fydd yn peryglu amwynder y parc ymhellach ac yn peryglu ei economi dwristiaeth ymhellach, ond eto mae wedi sefydlu cwmni i wneud hyn yn union.
Mae Cwmni Egino wedi’i leoli mewn swyddfeydd yng Nghaernarfon gyda chenhadaeth i gyflwyno ‘prosiectau newydd posibl gan gynnwys defnyddio adweithyddion niwclear bach i gynhyrchu trydan
