THE WELSH SITES UNDER CONSIDERATION TO HOST THE UK’S NEW NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP FACILITY
MORE details have emerged of plans to dump nuclear waste at potential sites across Wales.
Large parts of the country are being considered for dumps of waste accumulated from nuclear power stations over the past 60 years. Meetings are to be held in Wales next month as part of the search for a site in which to bury the country’s most dangerous radioactive waste.
People in two areas – Swansea and Llandudno – are to be consulted as part of the Governmentrun Radioactive Waste Management’s hunt for “a willing host community” wherein the lethal stockpile can be buried hundreds of metres underground in decades to come.
The waste is to be transferred from specially-engineered containers to a subterranean Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) and, while eight parts of England are also up for consultation, the official statement is that no sites are so far being considered.
However, experts at the RWM (a subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) have been scouring Wales for suitable regions and this is what they have to say about the area in which you live:
1. North Wales offshore including the Vale of Clwyd Research shows most of this sub region makes for a suitable setting.
The presence of clay-rich rock layers, along with layers of rock salt under the northern half of the subregion, could provide possible locations.
Even where not thick enough, siting could take place in deeper rocks which act as a barrier against the upward flow of groundwater – one of the ways in which radioactive material could be carried back to the surface.
Further work still needs to be done to assess this, but the lack of known coal, oil, gas and metal resources makes it less likely that any potential waste facility might be disturbed by future industrial endeavours.
2. North Wales Coalfield, comprising Wrexham and north to Prestatyn May be suitable in a small part of the region, although the thickness and properties of the rocks in the are still being examined.
Areas like Flint and Denbighshire which were mined for coal to depths below 100m – or lead and zinc in the case of Holywell and west of Wrexham – may be ruled out because of the way work has affected the way in which water moves through the rock, thereby compromising its ability to seal in any radioactivity.
Also, possible exploration in the future in these areas means it’s more likely a facility would be disrupted.
3. From St Brides Bay to the Severn Estuary, extending north to Welshpool
Lack of suitable rock means all the waste being housed here is unlikely, although part of it could still end up stored in this region.
Coal mining in the area over the years means the way water moves through the rock is likely to have been affected.
Parts of it – the coastline between Newport and Chepstow, for example – are also licenced for oil and gas exploration, although this remains in the early stages.
Thermal springs at Taffs Well, indicating the rapid rise of groundwater to the surface, also factor in any decision not to base a GDF in this region.
4. 20 km offshore strip along the Bristol Channel – from Carmarthen Bay to Cardiff Research shows a suitable setting may be found in most of this sub region.
The presence of clay-rich rock layers indicate suitability for a GDF – as well as the layers of rock salt under the northern half of the subregion.
Further work needs to be done, however, to discover if these rocks possess the requisite properties and thickness.
Lack of known coal, oil, gas and metal resources mean less likelihood of any potential GDF being affected by subsequent excavation.
5. Most of North Wales and West Wales – from St Davids to Bangor Feasible, although a lack of information about the rock’s suitability at depth presents a question mark.
North of Dolgellau and Anglesey having been mined to depths below 100m for metal resources such as copper, lead and zinc is also likely to have affected the way in which water moves through the rock.
Also, possible exploration in the future in these areas – as well as in the field of gas and oil – makes it less likely for any future GDF to go undisturbed.
6. Mostly offshore between St Davids and Caernarfon, with a small onshore area south of Harlech
Research shows a suitable setting may be found in most of this sub region.
Clay-rich rock layers under the whole subregion could house a GDF, along with layers ofrock saltto the west of the Llyn peninsula.
More work needs to be done to find out whether these rocks have suitable properties and thicknesses – deeper rocks could act as a barrier togroundwater flowing upwards.
There are no known coal, oil, gas or metal resourcesin this subregion and, although oil and gas exploration licences exist, the possibility of such work is still at a very early stage.