Concerns over more potentially 'radioactive mud' dumping in sea off Cardiff Bay

The Welsh Government sponsored orgnisation Natural Resources Wales (Welsh: Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru) has revealed that it has received another application from  EDF Energy to dump up to 780,000 tonnes of potentially contaminated sediment off Cardiff Bay.  EDF Energy wants to deposit sediment dredged as part of building work for the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant.

The plant is in Somerset on the English side of the Bristol Channel. The developers have submitted a plan to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) for sampling and testing the mud, which will now be subject to a six-week consultation with specialists and the public. The NRW six-week public consultation (5 February 2020 - 18 March 2020) will provide the opportunity for people to comment on the proposed plan.

There was a public outcry in Wales in 2018 after permission was granted for the dumping of up to 300,000 tonnes of sediment.  Campaigners have argued that the licence should not have been granted because NRW failed to carry out adequate tests.  They also now point to the refusal of the Welsh Government to carry out radioactivity measurements along the Welsh shoreline before and after the initial dumping of Hinkley mud in 2018. 

Hinkley Point A stopped producing electricity in 2000 after 35 years of operations and Hinkley Point B has been generating electricity since 1976. The mud and sediment comes from the drilling of six vertical shafts for the cooling water system for the new Hinkley Point C power station. Campaigners point to the danger of the mud being contaminated by discharges from the old Hinkley Point A and B.

Images: Hinkley dredging map courtesy BBC Wales and Hinkley Point C nuclear station under construction.