NATURAL RESOURCES WALES (NRW) have approved the monitoring plan for the dredging of sediment from a nuclear power plant site and its disposal in Cardiff Bay.
The Hinkley Point C building site in Somerset needs roughly 300,000 tonnes of sediment dredged, with plans to dispose of this a mile out of Cardiff Bay.
However, there have been protests as many believe the sediment could be contaminated with the nuclear waste from the old Hinkley nuclear stations. Many have also criticised what is deemed inadequate testing and samples, as well as fearing the effect of sea currents, moving the waste once it has been disposed of.
EDF, the developers of the site, were granted a marine licence in 2014 to dump the sediment, yet in response a campaign was launched, resulting in a 7,000-strong petition being handed to the Welsh Government.
The petition called for the licence to be suspended to allow for a full Environmental Impact Assessment, complete radiological analysis and core sampling to be carried out.
In response, the developers have suggested that even if a person were to spend four hours each day on the shores of Cardiff Bay, inhaling sediment and eating locally sourced fish, 90% of the radiation received would be naturally occurring.
A report by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science claims that the impact of radioactivity on people would equivalent to eating 20 bananas each year (which are rich in potassium-40), or 50 times less than the average dose received by a resident of Pembrokeshire, due to the county’s relatively high Radon levels.
Neil McEvoy, Independent AM for South Wales Central, fears the sediment could contain radioactive waste, saying: “I have major concerns about safety. This mud will be washed all around the Welsh coast, so we should thoroughly test the mud.”
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