P-05-1003 Demand an EIA now on the dumping of radioactively contaminated mud in Welsh waters, Correspondence – NRW to Chair, 23.12.20

Dear Ms Finch-Saunders,

Thank you for your letter of 21 December. regarding Petition ‘P-05-1003 Demand an EIA now on the dumping of radioactively contaminated mud in Welsh waters’. This has been passed to me for response by Clare Pillman.

Update on the marine licencing process for this application

Since we last wrote to you on 3 August 2020 in connection to this petition, we have made further progress with our pre-application processes associated with this proposed disposal activity, namely:

• On 15 September 2020, we notified EDF Energy that we had approved its sampling plan. NRW is therefore satisfied that the sediment sampling and analysis plan is sufficient for the characterisation of the sediment to be dredged and to support a marine licence application for disposal of the dredged material at sea
• On 2 October 2020, EDF Energy announced its intention to carry out an EIA as part of its future marine disposal licence application and formally withdrew its request for an EIA screening opinion from NRW
• On 12 October 2020, in accordance with Regulation 5 of Marine Works (EIA) Regulations (2017), NRW confirmed with EDF that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) will be required for the dredge disposal marine licence application

All these steps have been publicly communicated and are available from our web-site;

https://naturalresources.wales/about-us/news-and-events/statements/marine-licence-to-dispose-dredged-material-off-the-coast-of-south-wales/?lang=en

At a recent meeting with representatives of EDF Energy we were informed that the submission of their marine licence application is now expected in January 2021.

Response to the further comments made by the petitioners in their recent correspondence

We note that the petitioner has requested you to forward their scoping proposals to NRW for consideration.

As detailed above, the scope of the EIA is restricted to the requirements of the Marine Works (EIA) Regulations (2017) and EDF have committed to undertaking the associated EIA as part of its licence application. EDF have withdrawn their EIA screening request and do not intend to request a Scoping Opinion from NRW.

Consequently, we now need to await the formal submission of the marine licence application and its supporting documentation. Given its profile, our determination of the application will include an 8-week public consultation, and this would be the appropriate time for the Petitioner and any other interested party to comment on any element of the application.

I would reiterate that our determination process will ensure that we only issue licences for material that is safe for disposal following a thorough assessment of the evidence that supports the application.

Kind regards,