The post Wales Green Party Conference In Llandudno appeared first on North West Wales.

Construction of the Trawsfynydd Magnox Nuclear Power Station in Eryri National Park began in 1959 and was completed in 1965.  It is one of 26 Magnox stations built in the 1950’s to 1970’s.  They were developed as dual function reactors, able to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons as well as electricity. [1]

To date,Trawsfynydd is the only inland nuclear powerstation in the UK, using Llyn Trawsfynydd as its source of cooling water. This reservoir was originally built in 1926 to supply water to the Maentwrog hydroelectric plant that remains in operation. [2]

The Trawsfynydd site, including the lake and the hydroelectric plant, is owned by Magnox Ltd, rebranded as Nuclear Restoration Services, a subsidiary of the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, [NDA].  [3]

Decommissioning

Generation at Trawsfynydd stopped in 1991 after 26 years and decommissioning the plant commenced in 1993, defueling was completed by 1997 with fuel elements removed from the site and transported to Sellafield for reprocessing. [4]

The original plan for the nuclear station was to allow the radioactivity of the core to naturally decay and cool, making it cheaper and easier to finally demolish the reactor buildings and return the site to its original state.  The Care and Maintenance phase was to last around 60 or more years from closure.  This timetable was abandoned in 2019 when it was found that the Trawsfynydd reactor buildings were deteriorating and could not be relied on to remain safe for this length of time.  The decommissioning programme has had to be considerably accelerated with currently unknown impacts of the full costs of the clean-up.  [5]

It is not possible to get any realistic estimate of the full cost of making safe and restoring any given nuclear site.  The NDA acknowledges that it still does not have full understanding of the condition of the 17 sites across its estate, including the 10 former Magnox power stations.  The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee have described this inability to put a figure on the cost to the public purse for decommissioning as a ‘Sorry Saga’.  Safely dismantling the current nuclear stations will cost generations of UK taxpayers an unknown sum likely to stretch to well over £100 billion.  [6]

 The Trawsfynydd site is described as the ‘lead and learn’ site for decommissioning the Magnox reactors and lessons learned and costs will be applied to all 26 Magnox reactors in the UK. [5]  It is important that the learning process and clean up techniques includes the whole site and is not just limited to the perimeter of the reactor buildings.  For this to happen it is necessary for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and all involved to both understand and acknowledge the extent of contamination of the whole Trawsfynydd site including the lake.

Radioactive Contamination

During its operational phase Trawsfynydd was licensed to vent gaseous radioactive waste, mostly carbon dioxide, to the atmosphere and also liquid radioactive waste to the lake, including water from the cooling ponds. [7]

The site contains known areas of radioactive and non-radioactive contaminated  land and groundwater, resulting primarily from the generation phase of the station’s life.  [8]

In addition to this historic contamination of the site, Nuclear Restoration Services are proposing dumping  contaminated rubble from the urgent demolition work on the reactor building into the now redundant cooling ponds.  The Nuclear Free Local Authorities of Wales have expressed their concern over this plan and are demanding that this rubble be contained within purpose built and properly shielded containment fearing that the old cooling ponds would leak further contamination into the ground and lake.  [9]

Maentwrog Community Council expressed concerns many years ago about contamination of the Trawsfynydd site and about the cooling ponds that have been leaking since the 1970’s.  They were told in 2006 that there would be borehole analysis to determine the extent of groundwater contamination, to date no such report has been published.  [10]

The fact that the cooling ponds leak has been confirmed by Magnox itself in a Strategic Environmental Assessment in 2014.  Their report states: ‘The radioactive land and groundwater contamination is associated with leakage from the ponds during the 1970s/80s, due to a joint weakness in the pond structure. Extensive (9500m3 ) sub-surface low level radioactive land contamination has resulted.’  [8]

Maentwrog Community Council in their written evidence to the Wales Parliamentary Committee in 2016 also expressed their concern that plutonium particles had been documented as present in the lake sediment.  [10] It has not been possible to confirm the presence of plutonium through a literature search. Monitoring for radiation at the site has used gamma ray detectors, but plutonium is a very weak emitter of gamma rays so would not be detected in lake sediments using geiger counters on the surface. [7, page 7]

Health Risks

The presence of plutonium in the lake sediments adds to the concern that emissions from the nuclear plant, even though they were properly permitted, could be building up in the local environment, including food chains.  Health effects of low level doses of radiation have long been a controversial subject.  Canadian-American scientist Dr Rosalie Bertell researched the incidents and possible long term effects of radiation from nuclear weapons testing and the civil nuclear programme in the 1970’s publishing a book ‘No Immediate Danger’ in 1985 which documented the risks. [11]  Her work was largely ignored and many nuclear physicists tried to debunk her work and her qualifications to  question their assurances that there was no risk. There were even attempts on her life that caused her to move from the USA to Canada. [12]

In 2006, walking in Dr Bertell’s footsteps, Dr Chris Busby and others published a paper claiming to find a cluster of cancer cases associated with the Trawsfynydd reactor. [13 ] After this work was aired on a television programme in Wales in 2006 it was heavily criticised by the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit and other nuclear scientists who claimed that his work was flawed.  Others thought differently including Michael Meacher, a former Environment minister in the Blair Government.  He called on Health specialists to take the statistics seriously and called for a full public enquiry on the issue of long term nuclear safety and the impacts of low level radiation before any further nuclear plants were built. [14]

North Wales Live reported Dr Busby’s findings and questioned the relevant health officials, who were reluctant to comment, just saying that the matter would be considered elsewhere. Public Health Wales responded that they could consult with expert bodies if concerns were raised but at that time there were no ‘no ongoing investigations into cancer clusters in the Trawsfynydd area.’

[15]

The Western Mail called on the Health Authorities to publish its own study of all the available data rather than simply dismissing Busby’s work. Dr Busby had been unable to review all of the relevant data. [14]

Plaid Cymru councillor and cancer patient Linda Ann Jones is a councillor for Tegil ward, Llan Festiniog, north of Trawsfynydd.  She has listened to concerns of local people about emissions from the  nuclear station over many years, well before Busby’s report. Jones has urged the UK government to consider the survey’s results seriously and to launch an investigation into the risks posed to local communities by nuclear power plants before allowing new plants to be built. [14]

 Conclusion.

The Green Party does not support further use of nuclear power for the generation of electricity. If honest and open accounting was used, nuclear power would be seen as a very expensive option for generating energy and it leaves a very costly legacy of waste and contamination.  The culture of secrecy and misinformation, driven by the military nuclear programme, must end for the civil use of nuclear technology.  The long term health effects of low level radiation and the robustness of current safety standards needs to be properly researched by independent scientists rather than those dependent on the nuclear industry for their livelihood.  While Dr Busby’s work may be questioned, due in part to the withholding of relevant data from his research, the concerns that he and Councillor Jones have raised must be taken seriously by the relevant Health Authorities and the governments of Wales and the UK.  To casually state that ‘no ongoing studies…’ are being carried out is unacceptable. 

References

1.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnox#Reactors_built
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maentwrog_power_station
3. Major nuclear company rebrands as ‘Nuclear Restoration Services’ – GOV.UK
4. Trawsfynydd | Office for Nuclear Regulation.
5. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Annual Report 2022/3
6. “Sorry saga” of disused nuclear sites will cost generations of UK taxpayer – Committees
7. Radiological Habits Survey: Trawsfynydd, 2018
8. Trawsfynydd Site Strategic Environmental Assessment Site Specific Baseline
9. Too short, ill-timed and clumsy: Welsh NFLAs critical of Trawsfynydd consultation
10. https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/65314/html/
11. No Immediate Danger, Rosalie Bwertewll, Thue Women’s Press ISBN 0-7043-2846-1
12.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RosalieBertell
13. https://www.llrc.org/llrc/epidemiology/subtopic/trawsrept.pdf
14. https://www.wiseinternational.org/book/export/html/3267
15. Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station ‘responsible for elevated risk of cancer,’ claims academic – North Wales Live

The post Trawsfynydd’s Legacy appeared first on North West Wales.

6 weeks of campaigning is over, the ballots have been counted and a new government is in power!

Over the 6 weeks, Greens from North West have been busy at hustings, sharing online content and spreading the Green message.

Harriet the Chair of the North West Wales Green Party expressed “How proud she was of all the candidates who stood for the Greens and allowed the people of North Wales to choose Green if they wanted too. In doing so we received a total of 4804 votes. A great result for our area as in the 2019 Election there were no Greens on the Ballot.

I want to thank everyone who voted for us and made all of the time and effort we spent worth it“.

If you were happy you had a Green Choice this time, please become a member and help us keep Green on future ballots.

Petra Haig – Bangor Aberconwy
Petra received 1361 Votes in her constituency obtaining 3.3% of the total vote.

Martyn Hogg – Clwyd North

This is Councillor Martyn Hogg first time standing in a General Election and he achieved 1391 votes with a total vote share of 3.3%!

Karl Drinkwater – Dwyfor Meirionnydd

Karl received 1448 votes the highest in our area! Da Iawn Karl! With a vote share of 3.6% of the total vote

Martin Schwaller – Ynys Môn

This was Martins’s first time Standing on Ynys Môn and if my knowledge is correct the first time we have stood a candidate in North Wales. Ynys Môn is an interesting constituency as it is a 3 way marginal. Martin received 604 votes with 1.9% of total votes

The post General Election Results appeared first on North West Wales.

Baroness Natalie Bennett – Greenparty Lord

Anthony Slaughter – Wales Green Party Leader

Martin Schwaller – Candidate for Ynys Ynys Môn

Harriet King – North West Wales Green Party Chair

Both Natalie and Anthony bought copies of their books for us to view sign and purchase.

We planned this event before the election but it coincided well for the people of Anglesey to be able to ask some key figures in the Green Party the questions that matter to them.

The post Green Talk and Q&A – Guest SPeakers – Llangoed Village Hall appeared first on North West Wales.

The post General Elections Candidates Selected appeared first on North West Wales.

The post Local Party Chair – AGM Report 2024 appeared first on North West Wales.

The day following our AGM in Menai Bridge a large group of us were pleased to be hosted by Menter Môn. In particular we were there to see the Anglesey Morlais Tidal Energy project that Menter Môn are bringing to fruition.

The project, near Ynys Lawd (South Stack) is a fine example of a very significant renewable energy project being delivered on time, in budget and genuinely creating long lasting, local, high value jobs  and stimulating career opportunities as well as the Welsh language.

The Morlais project is near complettion and will have the capacity to produce 240MW of carbon free electricity. This project is not just putting turbines in the water but also all the infastructure to deliver the energy from the tides right into the Grid.

We are impressed by the attention to the environmental impact of the scheme  and the sesisitivity with which the project is managed. It is a centre of excellence for tidal energy production and an example of how we can secure our energy future without the need for combustion of fossil fuels or of developing nuclear.

Menter Môn runs a number of innovative projects across Anglesey and Gwyndd. It is run as a social enterprise and as such is an interesting model for delivering projects on a non profit making basis.

The post Morlais Tidal Energy Project Visit appeared first on North West Wales.

It was also the launch of our General Election candidate for Ynys Mon – Martin Schwaller. Both Martin & Anthony took questions from the attendees on various topics from Agriculture Policies to Child poverty rates on the Island and of course, what can be done to help the Palestinian people.

Our second guest speaker was Sian Skyes who paddled around the UK in 2018 highlighting the plight of litter on our water ways.

Sian talked us through her adventure, and shared stories, videos and pictures of her trip. We were shocked by how much litter Sian was collecting and the impact it was having on the eco systems.

Her gear was made as environmentally friendly as possible even down to the food she ate!

We all thoroughly enjoyed Sians talk and would highly recommend going to see one and hopefully, we’ll have her back in the future.

Who knows even a Greenparty Paddleboarding Litterpick could be arranged!

Excerpt from Anthony Speach “The Welsh writer and thinker Raymond William famously Said,

‘To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing’

And that is what we do as Greens. Our radical vision of a better future offers real hope to communities at a time when other major parties are most comfortable tinkering around the edges of a broken status quo”

Independence was also a key part of the meeting. The Green Party believes in an indepedenant wales however as Anthony said in his speech

“Independence is meaningless if people can’t afford safe, secure and warm homes

Independence is meaningless without radical reform of institutionally racist public bodies

Independence is meaningless if society continues to tolerate transphobia. homophobia and all forms of bigotry.

As Greens, we know that independence is meaningless without climate justice, social justice, economic justice and racial justice”

The Local Party Chair Report stated that we have 172 members in North West Wales currently and thanked the current committee for all their hard work they have put in over the last year.

Harriet went onto say

“I am sure that the new committee elected today and the volunteers we have will help continue in making these small but necessary steps to a Greener, independent Wales!”

She also stressed the need for more volunteers to help run the local party, fresh people and energy are needed. If anyone would like to volunteer than please get in contact via email contact@northwest.greenparty.wales

There is a record of the AGM available online if anyone couldn’t attend on the day

The post Menai Bridge AGM with Sian Sykes SAS & Anthony Slaughter WGP Leader appeared first on North West Wales.

The main responsibility of an Elections Officer is to * Help candidates navigate electoral requirements.
* Take the lead in screening candidates.
* Responsible for internal elections.

The role requires a person dedicated to the progress of the party and prepared to devote some time towards supporting the ambitions of other people. It is a selfless role and requires tenacity, attention to detail and knowledge of relevant legislation.

If you like the sound of this role and would like more information please let us know

The post Volunteer Opportunity – Elections Officer Vacancy appeared first on North West Wales.

We visited a community land project where people are tackling both the cost of living crisis and the loneliness crisis by creating a food production hub which works in harmony with nature.

Martin Schwaller, our general election candidate for Ynys Môn, joined us for our beach clean to discuss the importance of the marine environment to islanders, and how the Green Party would lead on delivering green jobs.

We then spoke to residents in Llanbedr to hear about how they’re being let down by both the Welsh Government and Gwynedd Council on traffic issues. It’s clear that the Welsh Government needs to follow its Roads Review by providing better public transport and walking and cycling infrastructure.

Today, we’re heading to Barmouth to discuss what sustainable tourism could look like in North Wales. Thank you to everyone who’s joined us.

The post Wales Green Party Leader Visits Dyffryn Arduwdy appeared first on North West Wales.