The dumping of mud and sediment from a nuclear plant site off Cardiff Bay has been delayed. Thousands of tonnes of material needs to be dredged from the Hinkley Point C building site in Somerset. The developer wants to dispose of 300,000 tonnes of mud across the Bristol Channel in the Cardiff Grounds, a little over a mile out to sea from Cardiff Bay. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) will monitor it, but it has been delayed. “We were initially told by the licence holder, NNB Genco, that they intended to begin the dredging/disposal operations on 16 August,” said NRW’s John Wheadon. “We were subsequently informed that, due to external constraints, the dredging is now expected to begin in early September, although no specific date has yet been provided.” The move has met with opposition, with some politicians opposing it as well as 7,000 people who signed a petition.
BBC 14th Aug 2018 read more »
The Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) welcomes the decision by EDF Energy, presumably with the support of Natural Resources Wales, to postpone the start of dumping thousands of tonnes of dredged sediment from the proposed Hinkley Point C site to a marine dump site a few miles off the South Wales coastline (the ‘Cardiff Deep Grounds’). The ‘Hinkley mud’ issue, as it has become known, has seen huge petitions submitted to the Senedd, a consideration by its Petitions Committee, and a full debate in the Main Chamber. Despite calls from campaigning groups to halt the dumping of the material until further tests of its content is made, both the regulator and the Welsh Government have been supportive of the application, claiming it to be safe to the local marine environment.
NFLA 14th Aug 2018 read more »
