Written evidence submitted by Pobol Atal Wylfa B/People Against Wylfa B (FNP 30)

Here is a response on behalf of PAWB, Pobl Atal Wylfa B/People Against Wylfa B to The Welsh Affairs Committee discussion on the future of nuclear power in Wales.  PAWB was founded in 1988 to campaign against the Central Electricity Generating Board’s plan to build a pressurised water reactor on the Wylfa site..The Board’s application was of course unsuccessful. Since 2002, PAWB has campaigned consistently against the Blair, Brown and Cameron governments’ wishes to build a new generation of nuclear power stations.

You ask whether Wylfa B will be built on schedule. That schedule has already slipped following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011. That disaster continues as  TEPCO attempt to keep control of the site. At the moment there are 1106 tanks holding radioactive water on the site and radioactive water flows into the Pacific Ocean daily through the ground of the site. The Fukushima disaster contributed towards RWE and Eon’s decision to pull out of the Wylfa B project. Although Hitachi bought Horizon from the German consortium in October 2012, the investment decision is far from certain. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph on January 31, 2016, Mr. Hiroaki Nakanishi, the chairman of Hitachi expressed doubts about investing in the Wylfa site. He went as far as saying that Hitachi could pull out of the project due to lack of interest by investors. In the same paper two weeks later, Alan Raymant, Chief Executive of Horizon admitted that there would have to be a wide search for investors. He added that they should not depend on state corporations, an obvious swipe at EDF and the Chinese nuclear corporation and their failure to make a final investment decision for Hinkley Point C. Mr. Raymant commented that if investments didn’t come, they would pull out of Wylfa. In this context, you as a committee should bear in mind EDF’s efforts to attract large private investments from pension funds and Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds. These attempts were totally unsuccessful. Why should Hitachi get different answers while trying to promote the ABWR which is a version of the reactors that exploded at Fukushima Daiichi on March 11, 2011. Mr.Nakanishi and Mr.Raymant’s comments have certainly thrown cold water publicly for the first time on their plans at Wylfa. What you should seriously consider now is whether Wylfa B will happen at all. Will Hitachi be able to attract £14 billion or more in order to move forward?

You mention the “strike price” fo Wylfa B and its effect on electricity prices in Wales. EDF secured a price of £92.50 per Megawatt/hour index linked to inflation over a 35 year period for Hinkley Point C. That price is double the current wholesale price of electricity. Hitachi/Horizon would ask for equally favourable terms for their electricity. Electricity at such favourable terms from Hinkley and Wylfa would undoubtedly mean a hike in Welsh electricity bills. What is even more disturbing is the long term cost for future generations of safeguarding doubly hot and doubly radioactive waste from the types of reactors EDF and Hitachi/Horizon want to build. Private companies can fail financially. Who would then take responsibility for managing waste and decommissioning reactors of failed companies? We as taxpayers of course.

Horizon has admitted that about 75% to 80% of the construction workforce at Wylfa would come from outside the local area. The local area extends as far as Chehire and Merseyside which is within the 90 minute travel distance considered local. The pattern with the two nuclear projects in Europe at the moment at Olkiluoto in Finland and Flamanville in France is international workforces with large numbers coming from Eastern European countries, which strongly suggests cheap labour. Both projects are hopelessly behind schedule and over budget. All things considered, it is very dubious how much economic benefit north Wales would get from Wylfa B’s construction. What is certain is that such a massive project as Wylfa B would have a very damaging effect on the infrastructure of Ynys Môn and Gwynedd. Substantial extra strain would be put on the health service, police, and local government services, especially social services and education.

The guidelines set by you for discussing nuclear power in Wales are very defective in the context of the future of the Welsh language in its north west Wales stronghold.The building and operating periods of the present Wylfa nuclear station has coincided with a fall in the percentage of Welsh speakers in the communities of northern and eastern Ynys Môn. There was a large influx of Wylfa construction workers to Ynys Môn in the sixties and early seventies. Many of them stayed thus reducing the percentage of Welsh speakers in our communities. The Cemaes area underlines this fall in percentage dramatically. In Estyn’s inspection of Cemaes primary school in 2006, it was noted that only 4% of the children came from Welsh speaking homes. It is crystal clear that the projections for housing need outlined in the Deposit version of the Gwynedd/Môn joint Local Development Plan is based on the assumption that two new nuclear reactors will be built at Wylfa.. Why else would 8000 new houses be needed in the two counties? Giving consent to such numbers of houses could bring the percentage of Welsh speakers in Ynys Môn down to under 50% within a decade and cause a significant fall in the percentage of Welsh speakers in Gwynedd. As a committee you should recognise the linguistic impact of building Wylfa B and a possible Small Modular Reactor in Trawsfynydd on the communities of Gwynedd and Môn.

As in the case of Hinkley Point even before securing the necessary investment for the construction work, buildings have been demolished in the area by Horizon leaving an environmental impact already. In August 2015, Horizon presented a planning application to Natural Resources Wales to drill 33 boreholes on shore and in the bay at Porth y Pistyll near the present Wylfa station and not far from Horizon’s land. Consent was given for the drilling at the end of September 2015, but no drilling has happened up to now. The purpose of the work is to assess the geology in order to build an industrial jetty across the mouth of the bay to import building material. This is an example of appalling environmental destruction as the view from the shore at Porth y Pistyll to the north and west is very striking. Add to that the area of the land owned by Horizon, eleven times the size of the present station, and the scale of the environmental destruction is clear. A chunk of agricultural land would be industrialised and covered in concrete for a very long time. Horizon are also very reluctant to show where they would store high level radioactive waste on the site. The ABWRs would use high burn-up uranium fuel, a much more intense fuel than the fuel used in nuclear stations at present. Consequently, the waste produced would be doubly hot and radioactive, and that would mean having to store it on site for up to160 years and quite likely beyond that. This particular piece of land on the northern coast of Ynys Môn is crossed by the National Coastal Path, in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and contains a number of Sites of Special Scientific Interest.. That is what would be destroyed by investing in an old fashioned, dirty, dangerous and extortionately expensive technology . The destruction caused by the nuclear industry was seen at its worst at the disasters in Three Mile Island in the United States, in Chernobyl in Ukraine and in Fukushima, Japan. In Chernobyl and Fukushima, thousands of people were forced to leave their homes. There is still an empty evacuation zone around Chernobyl and over 120,000 people from the Fukushima area face the real possibility that they will never be able to return to their homes. A serious release of radioactivity following a nuclear accident at Hinkley, Oldbury, Sellafield/Moorside or Wylfa would turn large parts or even the whole of Wales into a radioactive wasteland. The terrible lessons of Chernobyl and Fukushima  teach us that nuclear reactors should never be built again.   

Decommissioning has just started at the Wylfa Magnox station.  It is claimed the work will be done quicker than at Trawsfynydd. We shall see about that. However, it has been confirmed that the main Magnox reactor building will still be on its feet into the twenty second century. That shows how long the legacy of this dangerous industry is and why it isn’t a responsible choice for electricity generation.

The Small Modular Reactor has been  discussed for quite a long time but it hasn’t passed the discussion stage. The reality is that nobody really wants to invest in such a technology, thus reflecting the nervousness about investing in large reactors such as the ABWR, EPR andAP1000. Although the small modular reactor could be about a quarter of the size of large reactors, they would also create poisonous radioactive waste. There has been irresponsible talk about using Trawsfynydd as a trial site for a small modular reactor. There is no firm application to carry out such an experiment, but people in the area have expressed opposition to having a nuclear experiment on their doorstep. It would be very interesting to see whether people in English cities where the electricity is needed were willing to have these small modular reactors in their cities. Who would want such a dangerous terrorist target in a highly populated city. Why therefore even consider Trawsfynydd for such a foolish experiment?    

In summary, There are clear signs internationally that the nuclear industry is in steady decline. Therefore it is now time to move developing electricity production in Wales very definitely towards renewable energy in all its variety; wind, solar, hydro, biomass and the various marine technologies. After all, Wales has very rich renewable resources which would in the opinion of the former First Minister Rhodri Morgan be able to provide double the electricity used by us in Wales.

Yn gywir,

Dylan Morgan

Co-ordinator PAWB, Pobl Atal Wylfa B/People Against Wylfa B

YMATEB I YMCHWILIAD Y PWYLLGOR DETHOL MATERION CYMREIG I YNNI NIWCLEAR YNG NGHYMRU

Dyma ymateb ar ran PAWB, Pobl Atal Wylfa B/People Against Wylfa B i ymchwiliad y Pwyllgor Materion Cymreig i ynni niwclear yng Nghymru. Sefydlwyd PAWB yn 1988 i ymgyrchu yn erbyn cynllun y Bwrdd Cynhyrchu Trydan Canolog i godi adweithydd dŵr dan bwysedd ar safle’r Wylfa. Methiant wrth gwrs fu cais y Bwrdd. Ers 2002, bu PAWB yn ymgyrchu’n gyson yn erbyn awydd llywodraethau Blair, Brown a Cameron i godi cenhedlaeth newydd o orsafoedd niwclear.

Fe ofynnwch a fydd Wylfa B yn cael ei chodi o fewn amserlen. Mae’r amserlen honno wedi llithro eisoes yn sgil trychineb niwclear Fukushima ym Mawrth 2011. Mae’r drychineb honno’n parhau wrth i TEPCO geisio cadw rheolaeth ar y safle. Ar hyn o bryd mae 1106 o danciau yn dal dŵr ymbelydrol ar y safle ac mae dŵr ymbelydrol yn dal i lifo trwy’r ddaear yno pob dydd i mewn i’r Môr Tawel. Cyfrannodd trychineb Fukushima at benderfyniad RWE ac Eon i dynnu allan o brosiect Wylfa B. Er i Hitachi brynu cwmni Horizon oddi wrth y consortiwm Almaenig yn Hydref 2012, nid yw’r penderfyniad buddsoddi yn sicr o bell ffordd. Mewn cyfweliad gyda’r Sunday Telegraph ar Ionawer 31, 2016, mynegodd Mr. Hiroaki Nakanishi, cadeirydd Hitachi amheuon am fuddsoddi yn safle’r Wylfa. Aeth mor bell â dweud y gallai Hitachi dynnu allan o’r holl brosiect oherwydd diffyg diddordeb gan fuddsoddwyr. Yn yr un papur bythefnos yn ddiweddarach, cyfaddefodd Alan Raymant, Prif Weithredwr Horizon y byddai’n rhaid bwrw’r rhwyd yn eang i ddenu buddsoddwyr. Ychwanegodd na ddylent ddibynnu ar gorfforaethau gwladwriaethiol, ergyd amlwg at EDF a’r gorfforaeth niwclear o Tseina a’u methiant i wneud penderfyniad buddsoddi terfynol yn Hinkley Point C. Ychwanegodd Mr. Raymant os na ddeuai buddsoddiadau, tynnu allan o Wylfa fyddai’n digwydd. Yn y cyswllt hwn, dylech fel pwyllgor ddwyn i gof ymdrechion EDF i ddenu buddsoddiadau preifat mawr o gronfeydd pensiwn a chronfeydd cyfoeth sofran o’r Dwyrain Canol. Bu’r ymdrechion hyn yn gwbl aflwyddiannus. Pam ddylai Hitachi gael atebion gwahanol wrth geisio hybu’r adweithydd ABWR sydd yn fersiwn o’r adweithyddion a ffrwydrodd yn Fukushima Daiichi ar Fawrth 11, 2011. Yn sicr, mae sylwadau Mr.Nakanishi a Mr.Raymant wedi taflu dŵr oer cyhoeddus am y tro cyntaf ar eu cynlluniau yn y Wylfa. Yr hyn ddylech chi ystyried yn ddifrifol yn awr yw a fydd Wylfa B yn digwydd o gwbl. Fydd Hitachi yn gallu denu buddsoddiadau o £14 biliwn a mwy er mwyn symud ymlaen?

Fe soniwch am y pris gwarantedig “strike price” ar gyfer Wylfa B a’i effaith ar brisiau trydan yng Nghymru. Sicrhaodd EDF bris wedi’i glymu dros 35 mlynedd o £92.50 y Megawatt/awr yn codi gyda chwyddiant ar gyfer Hinkley Point C. Mae’r pris hwnnw’n ddwbl pris cyfanwerthu trydan ar hyn o bryd. Byddai Hitachi/Horizon yn gofyn am delerau yr un mor ffafriol am eu trydan. Byddai trydan o Hinkley a Wylfa ar delerau mor hael yn rhwym o olygu cynnydd ym miliau trydan pobl Cymru. Beth sy’n peri pryder mwy fyth yw’r gost yn y tymor hir i genedlaethau’r dyfodol i ddiogelu’r gwastraff niwclear dwy waith poethach a dwy waith mwy ymbelydrol o’r adweithyddion yr hoffai EDF a Hitachi/Horizon godi. Mae cwmniau masnachol yn gallu methu’n ariannol. Pwy fyddai’n cymryd cyfrifoldeb am reoli gwastraff a dadgomisiynu adweithyddion cwmniau fyddai’n mynd i’r wal? Ni fel trethdalwyr wrth gwrs.

Mae Horizon wedi cydnabod y byddai tua 75% i 80% o’r gweithlu adeiladu yn y Wylfa yn dod o’r tu allan i’r ardal leol. Mae’r ardal leol yn estyn hyd at Swydd Caer a Glannau Merswy sydd o fewn y pellter teithio 90 munud yr ystyrir fel lleol. Y patrwm gyda’r ddau brosiect niwclear yn Ewrop ar hyn o bryd yn Olkiluoto, y Ffindir a Flamenville yn Ffrainc yw gweithlu rhyngwladol gyda nifer fawr yn dod o wledydd Dwyrain Ewrop, sy’n awgrymu’n gryf llafur rhad. Mae’r ddau brosiect yn bell dros eu hamserlenni a’u cyllidebau. O ystyried hynny oll, mae’n amheus iawn faint o fudd economaidd fyddai i ogledd Cymru o godi Wylfa B. Yr hyn sy’n sicr yw y byddai’r fath brosiect enfawr â Wylfa B yn cael effaith niweidiol iawn ar holl isadeiledd Môn a Gwynedd. Byddai straen mawr ychwanegol yn cael ei roi ar y gwasanaeth iechyd, yr heddlu, a gwasanaethau llywodraeth leol, yn arbennig felly gwasanaethau cymdeithasol ac addysg.

Mae’r canllawiau a osodwyd gennych ar gyfer trafod ynni niwclear yng Nghymru yn ddiffygiol iawn o safbwynt rhoi ystyriaeth i ddyfodol y Gymraeg yn ei chadarnle yng ngogledd orllewin Cymru.Mae oes adeiladu a rhedeg gorsaf niwclear bresennol y Wylfa wedi cyd-daro â dirywiad yng nghanran y siaradwyr Cymraeg yng nghymunedau gogledd a dwyrain Môn. Cafwyd mewnlifiad mawr o weithwyr adeiladu Wylfa i Fôn yn y chwedegau a’r saithdegau cynnar. Arhosodd llawer ohonynt a gostwng canran y siaradwyr Cymraeg yn ein cymunedau yn y broses. Mae ardal Cemaes yn tanlinellu’r gostyngiad canrannol hwn yn ddramatig. Yn arolwg Estyn o ysgol gynradd Cemaes yn 2006, gwelwyd mai 4% yn unig o’r plant a ddeuai o aelwydydd Cymraeg eu hiaith. Mae’n gwbl amlwg bod y rhagamcanion niferoedd tai yn nogfen Adnau Cynllun Datblygu Lleol Gwynedd a Môn yn seiliedig ar y rhagdybiaeth y bydd dau adweithydd niwclear newydd yn cael eu codi yn y Wylfa. Pam arall fyddai angen bron 8000 o dai newydd yn y ddwy sir? Gallai caniatáu’r fath niferoedd o dai ddod â chanran siaradwyr Cymraeg ym Môn i lawr i dan 50% o fewn degawd a pheri cwymp arwyddocaol i ganran siaradwyr Cymraeg Gwynedd. Dylech fel pwyllgor gydnabod effaith ieithyddol codi Wylfa B ac o bosibl adweithydd modiwlar bach yn Nhrawsfynydd ar y Gymraeg yng nghymunedau Gwynedd a Môn.

Fel yn achos Hinkley Point hyd yn oed cyn sicrhau’r buddsoddiad angenrheidiol ar gyfer y gwaith adeiladu, mae gwaith dymchwel adeiladau yn yr ardal gan Horizon wedi gadael ôl amgylcheddol yn barod. Yn Awst 2015, cyflwynodd Horizon gais cynllunio i Gyfoeth Naturiol Cymru i dyllu mewn 33 lle ar y lan ac yn y bae ym Mhorth y Pistyll ger gorsaf bresennol y Wylfa ac heb fod yn bell o dir Horizon. Rhoddwyd caniatâd i’r tyllu ddiwedd Medi 2015, ond hyd yn hyn nid oes tyllu wedi digwydd. Diben y gwaith yw asesu’r ddaeareg ar gyfer sefydlu glanfa ddiwydiannol ar draws ceg y bae i fewnforio deunydd adeiladu. Dyma enghraifft o ddinistr amgylcheddol gwarthus gan fod yr olygfa i’r gogledd a’r gorllewin o’r lan ym Mhorth y Pistyll yn drawiadol iawn. Ychwanegwch at hynny arwynebedd y tir sy’n eiddo i Horizon, sef unarddeg gwaith yn fwy na safle’r orsaf bresennol, ac fe welir maint y dinistr amgylcheddol yn glir. Byddai talp o dir amaethyddol yn cael ei ddiwydiannu a’i orchuddio gan goncrit am gyfnod maith iawn. Mae Horizon hefyd yn gyndyn iawn o ddangos lle y byddent yn storio gwastraff ymbelydrol lefel uchel ar y safle. Byddai’r adweithyddion ABWR yn defnyddio tanwydd wraniwm dwysach na’r gorsafoedd niwclear presennol. O ganlyniad, byddai’r gwastraff ddwy waith poethach a dwy waith mwy ymbelydrol, a hynny’n golygu y byddai’n rhaid ei storio ar y safle am hyd at 160 o flynyddoedd, ac yn ddigon tebygol y tu hwnt i hynny. Mae’r darn arbennig hwn o dir ar arfordir gogledd Môn yn cael ei groesi gan Lwybr Arfordir Cymru, mewn Ardal o Harddwch Eithriadol ac yn cynnwys sawl Safle o Ddiddordeb Gwyddonol Arbennig. Dyna fyddai’n cael ei ddinistrio er mwyn buddsoddi mewn technoleg hen ffasiwn, budr, peryglus ac eithafol o ddrud. Gwelwyd dinistr y diwydiant niwclear ar ei waethaf yn nhrychinebau Three Mile Island yn yr Unol Daleithiau, Chernobyl yn Iwcrain a Fukushima yn Siapan. Yn Chernobyl a Fukushima, gorfodwyd miloedd o bobl i adael eu cartrefi. Mae dros 120,000 o bobl ardal Fukushima yn wynebu’r posibilrwydd gwirioneddol na fyddant yn gallu dychwelyd i’w cartrefi o gwbl. Byddai gollyngiad difrifol o ymbelydredd yn dilyn damwain niwclear yn Hinkley, Oldbury, Sellafield/Moorside neu Wylfa yn gallu troi darnau helaeth o Gymru yn ddiffeithdir ymbelydrol. Dylai gwersi erchyll Chernobyl a Fukushima ein dysgu na ddylid codi adweithyddion niwclear byth eto.

Mae dodgomisiynu newydd dechrau ar orsaf Magnox y Wylfa.  Honnir y bydd y gwaith yn cael ei wneud yn gyflymach nac yn Nhrawsfynydd. Cawn weld am hynny. Fodd bynnag, cadarnhawyd eisioes y bydd prif adeilad y ddau adweithydd Magnox yn dal ar ei draed i mewn i’r ail ganrif ar hugain. Mae hynny’n dangos cymaint o ôl a adewir gan y diwydiant peryglus hwn a pham nad yw’n ddewis cyfrifol ar gyfer cynhyrchu trydan.

Bu trafod am Adweithydd Modiwlar bach ers cryn amser a dim byd mwy na thrafod. Y gwir yw nad oes gan neb ddiddordeb gwirioneddol mewn buddsoddi yn y fath dechnoleg gan adlewyrchu’r nerfusrwydd am fuddsoddi mewn adweithyddion mawr fel ABWR, EPR a AP1000. Er y gallai’r adweithydd modiwlar bach fod tua chwarter maint yr adweithyddion mawr, byddent yn cynhyrchu gwastrasff ymbelydrol gwenwynig yn yr un modd. Cafwyd siarad anghyfrifol am dreialu adweithydd modiwlar bach ar safle Trawsfynydd. Nid oes cynnig cadarn ar gael i wireddu’r fath arbrawf, ond mae pobl yn yr ardal eisoes wedi codi llais i wrthwynebu cael arbrawf niwclear ar garreg y drws. Byddai’n ddiddorol iawn i weld a fyddai pobl dinasoedd Lloegr lle mae angen y trydan yn fodlon cael yr adweithyddion modiwlar bach ar safleoedd yn eu dinasoedd. Pwy fyddai eisiau targed terfysgol peryglus fel hyn yng nghanol dinas boblog. Pam felly hyd yn oed ystyried ardal fel Trawsfynydd i dreialu’r fath arbrawf ffol?    

I grynhoi felly, mae arwyddion clir iawn yn rhyungwladol mai dirywio cyson yw hanes y diwydiant niwclear. Dyma’r amser felly i symud datblygu cynhyrchu trydan yng Nghymru yn bendant iawn i gyfeiriad ynni adnewyddol yn ei holl amrywiaeth, boed yn wynt, solar, hydro, biomas, a’r amrywiol dechnolegau ynni yn y môr. Wedi’r cyfan, mae gan Gymru adnoddau adnewyddol cyfoethog iawn a fyddai ym marn cyn Brif Weinidog Cymru, Rhodri Morgan yn gallu darparu dwbl y trydan a ddefnyddir gennym yng Nghymru.

Yn gywir,

Dylan Morgan

Cydlynydd PAWB, Pobl Atal Wylfa B/People Against Wylfa B

04 March 2016