Write to: Rt Hon George Osborne MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, HM Treasury, Horse Guards Road, London SW1A 2HQ. Email: private.office@hmtreasury.qsi.gov.uk

Please send copies to: Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, Secretary of State for Defence, Ministry of Defence, Whitehall, London SW1A 2HB Email: DefenceSecretary-Group@mod.uk

Nick Harvey MP, Armed Forces Minister, Ministry of Defence, Whitehall, London SW1A 2HB Email: MinAF-PrivateOffice@mod.uk; and to your MP.

Some suggested points:

• There is widespread opposition to Trident in all sections of the public, including very senior military figures like Field Marshal Lord Bramall, General Lord Ramsbotham, General Sir Hugh Beach and Major-General Patrick Cordingley.
• Not surprising, when any use of Trident would cause unimaginable catastrophe to the world, its climate and all humanity; i.e. it is militarily useless.
• Can anyone think that the worldwide proliferation of nuclear bombs will enhance security? Yet that is what our development of Trident will lead to. Other states will be threatened and if we ‘need’ nukes why wouldn’t everyone else?

[online see http://www.cnduk.org/campaigns/no-to-trident]

Letter to the paper (printed in the Morning Star online) :

Can I take issue with Gareth Kelly from Aberystwyth (M Star January 25) who fully backs the new breed of nuclear power stations?

Nuclear power has not been proven cost effective in any way.

In Germany and other countries, experts have undertaken extensive research into the costs of nuclear power – including the effects on the environment – and have decided unanimously to reject it. Already Germany is on the way to recovering a large part of its power supply through renewables.

Of course, we on the left know that the real reason why both Labour and the Tories support building new nuclear power stations is to provide the essential ingredient for their new breed of nuclear weapons – plutonium.

The closure of Anglesey Aluminium had nothing to do with the nuclear power plant’s closure.

The power station was due to close four or five years ago, and the government should have provided alternatives sources of electricity well in advance of the closure of Trawsfynydd/Wylfa.

We in Wales are suffering from low-level radiation because of leakage from Sellafield, Hinkley, and Oldbury in Somerset. And let’s not forget the devastating legacies of Fukushima and Chernobyl.

The mountains of north Wales are still affected by the 1986 disaster, and livestock can’t go to market because of continuing radiation.

Sean Morris of Nuclear Free Local Authorities can give many more instances of environmental damage due to nuclear leaks which have been poorly reported.

LIke many other families I have invested in roof-mounted solar panels and, in spite of a bad autumn weather, I am making significant energy savings.

If we had a government willing to invest in renewable energy and grants for solar panels – together with savings through encouraging energy efficiency via insulation, recycling and so on – we would have no need for nuclear power.

I will be joining the blockade to stop the new Hinkley nuclear power station, the first on the list of the new breed of power stations to be developed.

Be there on March 10 and 11 at Hinkley. Together we can stop the nuclear menace threatening our planet’s future.

Ray Davies
Vice Chair CND Cymru

This is the verdict from within the Ministry of Defence (MoD). It is also the conclusion of CND’s detailed report, based on government archives, into potential alternative sites for Trident.

Read the report here: Trident: Nowhere to Go.

An MoD source has confirmed that “there simply isn’t anywhere else where we can do what we do at Coulport [nuclear weapons storage], and without that, there is no deterrent.” [1]

Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire has been one of the sites suggested as an alternative nuclear weapons and submarines base. This is one of the deepest natural waterways in the world. 25% of Britain’s petrol and diesel provisions and up to 30% of gas requirements are handled through the Port’s waterways.

The area is surrounded by Pembrokeshire National Park – the existence of which could possibly play a part in raising substantial opposition.

The South Hook Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Terminal (announced in 2003 – finished and launched in 2009), is the largest Liquefied Natural Gas re-gasification Terminal in Europe. It was built after a long consultation and plenty of PR (and protests) which affected a large number of people in south Wales – the terminal was built here because LNG is so dangerous and that the site has a relatively low population. An LNG pipeline was built across south Wales – even through the Brecon Beacons National Park in the east, to Lydney in Gloucestershire. They didn’t want to take the huge tankers filled with LNG higher up the Bristol Channel.

South Pembrokeshire has one of the highest unemployment rates in Wales. Rightly or wrongly, the oil and gas plants are seen as essential for the local economy.

The Assembly Government would of course have little say on any Westminster decisions on MoD issues, but could be involved in ‘peripheral’ issues affecting the population – such as health and safety, environmental pollution, roads.

CND’s report analyses the MoD’s own archives from 1963 which considered sites for the Polaris nuclear weapons system. Documents which provided evidence for discounting potential locations are now being dusted off by the MoD in a frantic search for an alternative location to Trident’s current home, Faslane and Coulport in Scotland. [2]

The expenses incurred in replacing Trident are already snowballing. The additional costs and the difficulty of relocating Trident from Scotland should once and for all lay to rest any plans for Britain to waste well in excess of £100bn on a Cold War weapons system.

Arthur West, Chair of Scottish CND, stated that “Scotland could make a major contribution to nuclear disarmament with international implications. Over the years nuclear weapons have been imposed on Scotland but now we have an opportunity to make a difference and to put an end to Weapons of Mass Destruction in Britain.”

[1] http://tgr.ph/xhrJl7

[2] ‘Trident: Nowhere to Go’ is a joint publication by CND and Scottish CND; researched by John Ainslie.

Over 300 protestors took to the rainy streets of Llangefni on the afternoon of Saturday 21 January 2012 to express their opposition to Wylfa B, in a colourful rally supported by Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, PAWB (Pobl Atal Wylfa B/People Against Wylfa B) and Greenpeace.

Speakers at the rally emphasised the need for safe and sustainable local jobs in northern Anglesey and claimed that Horizon Nuclear could not provide these. Among those addressing the crowds by the town clock were Richard Jones, the farmer from Caerdegog who is making a stand against the appropriation of his land by Horizon Nuclear, and the Rev. Emlyn Richards of Cemaes.

For PAWB, Dr Carl Clowes spoke of the proposal to store spent fuel on site at Wylfa – material that will be twice as radiaoctive as current legacy waste – for 150 years. He called on politicans to take note of the growing concern amongst scientists regarding levels of childhood leukaemia near nuclear plants, following studies in Germany and now France.

For Cymdeithas yr Iaith, author and activist Angharad Tomos spoke about land and freedom and the inevitable impact of the new construction on culture and language.

Dr Malcom Carroll of Greenpeace spoke of the many dangers inherent in new nuclear and about its astronomical costs. Despite the withdrawal of Germany from nuclear post-Fukushima, and the possibility of a French phase-out after the next election, in the UK the Westminster government was recklesly forging ahead with their plans regardless of the public interest. Sites such as Wylfa were now the frontline of opposition against this folly. This message was endorsed by a speaker from the Stop Hinkley campaign, from Somerest, where another nuclear site is proposed.

After the rally PAWB chair Dylan Morgan, said:

“The campaign against Wylfa B has taken a step forward with strong support from Ynys Môn, Gwynedd and fuurther afield. PAWB’s conference in Caernarfon last October and this highly successful rally prove that a broad alliance is developing to oppose Horizons’s plans for hugely expensive and dangerous reactors at Wylfa B, using an outdated technology. PAWB will be attending an open meeting in Bangor, at the Management Centre in College Road at 7pm on Wedneday January 25th when government nuclear inspectors will be answering questions on their report into the Fukushima nuclear disaster.”

http://stop-wylfa.org/wp/?p=321&lang=cy (Gwefan yn Gymraeg)

http://stop-wylfa.org/wp/?p=362 (Website in English)

photo: http://cymdeithas.org/2012/01/21/wylfa_b_rally_familys_fight_is_welsh_language_fight.html
more at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/srllwyd/6737494583/in/set-72157628970190817/

NUCLEAR-FREE WALES 

NO – Wylfa B – NA

NID YW MÔN AR WERTH I WYLFA B

Cefnogwch deulu Caerdegog

Rali Ionawr 21ain 2.30yp

LLANGEFNI

Maes Parcio Ffordd Glanhwfa

ANGLESEY IS NOT FOR SALE FOR WYLFA B

Support the Caerdegog family

Rally 21 st January 2.30pm

LLANGEFNI

Glanhwfa Rd Car Park

Siaradwyr/ speakers:

Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (Welsh Language Society): Angharad Tomos, Menna Machreth

Caerdegog: Richard Jones

Greenpeace: Dr Malcolm Carroll

PAWB: Dr Carl Clowes, Parch/Rev Emlyn Richards

Members of Llandrindod & District CND joined members of the Quaker movement in a silent vigil opposite the Post Office in Llandrindod Wells, on Christmas Eve, following Christmas carols sung by members of the Quakers.

Sentiments of both movements are shared as they strive for peace on earth and goodwill towards all men. To quote the Quaker leaflet:

We grieve…. for all victims, combatants and non-combatants alike, of war and military action, for future generations who will have to live with the legacy of today’s wars; for the waste of resources committed by our government in promoting the export of weapons, sowing the seeds of future wars.

We are committed…. to supporting ways of solving conflicts that depend on human ingenuity and mutual respect rather than military might; to a future free from the scourge of weapons of mass destruction in all countries including our own; to finding ways in the course of our everyday lives, to encourage love, hope, courage and tenderness towards one another, and to challenge the misuse of power; to the long term task of sowing the seeds of peace in our communities and in the world; to promoting discussion and action towards these ends.

Reports highlighting serious concerns over potential nuclear discharges from proposed new nuclear developments at Hinkley on the coast of Somerset – and 30 miles from the coast of South Wales have been submitted this week on behalf of the Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA), CND Cymru and the Stop Hinkley Campaign. The submissions to the Environment Agency include major concerns over the planned radioactive marine discharges and aerial emissions (1).

 Despite claims of a higher incidence of breast cancer and infant mortality in the vicinity of the existing Hinkley nuclear plant (2), and concerns over flooding in the region, plans for new nuclear reactors at Hinkley are already in motion. These will be the first of eight new nuclear power stations to be built in Britain.

The reports, based on research by Welsh independent marine pollution consultant, Tim Deere-Jones(3); and independent consultant on radiation in the environment, Dr Ian Fairlie (4) conclude that there are major data gaps concerning radioactivity concentrations along the entirety of the Bristol Channel coast. They point out concerns regarding the potential impact of Hinkley C (and Oldbury B in Gloucestershire) radioactive waste discharges on residents in and environment of coastal zones of Wales and England.

The submissions, endorsed by Caroline Lucas MP (and the Green Party of England and Wales), Martin Caton MP (Gower), Paul Flynn MP (Newport) and Jill Evans MEP, respond to an  Environment Agency request for comments on the permitted levels of discharge into the marine environment and into the atmosphere from proposed new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point.

The Infrastructure Planning Commission is also separately considering a 30,000 page planning application by EDF for developing reactors at the site.

Other key conclusions from the submissions include:

-        That there is a failure to address issues arising from climate change and the risks of severe flooding / inundation events.

-  According to the Environment Agency’s EPR Assessment Report in 2009, it is expected that each year the proposed nuclear reactor would emit to air 500 GBq (5) of tritium; 350 GBq of carbon-14; 800 GBq of radioactive noble gases and 50 MBq of radioiodines. This would increase Hinkley B’s current gaseous emissions by 20% (H-3) to 30% (C-14).

-        The largest aerial emissions are usually of tritium in the form of tritiated water vapour, i.e. radioactive water. Tritium is the radioactive form of hydrogen.

-        In November 2011, German data revealed large spikes in radioactive gas releases during the refuelling of Nuclear Power Plants. Higher doses from these nuclide spikes go a long way to explaining the increased incidences of child leukaemias near Nuclear Power Plants shown by the German Government’s KiKK (6) findings.

-        More consideration should be given to improving and making FULLY transparent the monitoring programme. The public has no opportunity to protect their health through being informed on daily discharge levels and there is no mechanism whereby the public can hold both site operators AND the regulators to account.

-        That the proposed nuclear power stations would be increased dangers to the health of populations of both Wales and England.

-                            That the proposed development in its current form should be rejected outright.

CND Cymru, along with the Wales Anti Nuclear Alliance (WANA), Friends of the Earth Cymru, Pobl Atal Wylfa B (PAWB) and other groups in Wales have long campaigned against nuclear power.  Hinkley Point is just a few miles across the Bristol Channel from Wales, and as the first of eight new nuclear power stations to be built in Britain holds particular significance to those opposed to nuclear power. Any discharge or accident at Hinkley Point would affect Wales as much as Somerset. The lethal effects of radionucleides know no national boundaries.

Many residents in South Wales are concerned for the possible effects on their children’s health and future. Visits by aid workers from south Wales to Belarus to take medicines and support to victims of the Chernobyl nuclear accident revealed just how the terrible are the risks which accompany nuclear power plants.

 CND Cymru National Secretary Jill Gough commented:

“All of us who care about the health and well being of our environment and our children and grandchildren are in the mainstream.”

 “We are proud to be part of this call for common sense – alongside the Nuclear Free Local Authorities, Friends of the earth and Stop Hinkley.”

 “It is time we human beings learnt our lesson. Nuclear power is a risk too great to take. There are alternatives. We should start by thinking hard about our addiction to the idea of ‘economic growth’ and remember that all of the earth’s resources are finite.”

For further information and interview opportunities with Tim Deere-Jones, Ian Fairlie or the groups that have co-sponsored this submission, contact Sean Morris, NFLA Secretary on 00 44 (0)161 234 3244 or 00 44 (0)7771 930196.

CND Cymru (Jill Gough) 01239 85 11 88 m: 07704 675787 heddwch@cndcymru.org

Cllr. Ray Davies Vice Chair CND Cymru and member of the NFLA Wales 02920 889 514

Also:

Stop Hinkley (Crispin Aubrey) t: 01278 732921 m: 07920 523673

Notes:

(1)        The NFLA/CND Cymru/Stop Hinkley submissions to the Environment Agency are available from CND Cymru (heddwch@cndcymru.org).

(2)     Cancer Mortality and Proximity to Hinkley Point Nuclear Power Station 1995-1998 http://stophinkley.org/Health/CancMort&ProxHinkPt3.pdf   http://www.llrc.org/health/subtopic/hinkley.htm

(3)        Tim Deere-Jones is an independent marine pollution consultant who lives in Pembrokeshire. He has worked previously for Greenpeace International, Friends of the Earth, Marinet and the World Wildlife Fund. He is a member of the Nuclear Consulting Group.

(4)        Dr Ian Fairlie is an independent consultant on the effects of radioactivity in the environment who lives in London. He is the former scientific secretary to the British Government’s Committee Examining Radiation Risks from Internal Emitters (CERRIE). He has worked on occupational health hazards for the Trades Union Congress and has been a radiation advisor to Greenpeace Canada.

(5) A becquerel (Bq) is a unit of radioactivity: it means one nuclear disintegration (or decay) per second. Each disintegration results in the emission of radiation. One GBq means one billion disintegrations per second, and one MBq means one million disintegrations per second.

(6)      KiKK-study (Kinderkrebs in der Umgebung von Kernkraftwerken – Childhood Cancer in the Vicinity of Nuclear Power Plants).  Credit goes to Christine Kamm MP in Munich, and the Green Party in Germany for obtaining this data, and to Dr Alfred Korblein in Nuremburg and scientists in IPPNW Germany for analysing it.

The 30th November TUC Day of Action is fast approaching. CND Cymru campaigners will be out on the day taking our Torrwch Trident/Cut Trident message to the public with public sector workers and their supporters. Campaigners will be in Cardiff and across Wales.

3 million public sector workers representing 28 unions will down tools in protest at the unwarranted attack on their
pensions. it will be the largest mass walkout seen in a generation of course, its not just about pensions, its about the pay freeze all are suffering whilst inflation is on the up, the threat to jobs and security and the detrimental effect this is having on our local economies. Already we are seeing closures and job losses, our schools and hospitals are suffering and our students are struggling to make ends meet,now we hear that winter fuel payments to the elderly have been cut by a quarter at a time when energy prices are sky high! This cannot continue!

There will be a Jobs Not Bombs bloc at the London demonstration, showing what a waste of public money Trident is when pensions and jobs are under attack. The Stop the War Coalition will be marching with us to back spending on Welfare not Warfare. We hope that you’ll be able to join us.

If you haven’t yet found out what local actions are taking place near you, a full list of actions across Britain is available at the Unite website. Look at http://bit.ly/vD8IdS for details on other places where you could also have a local Jobs Not Bombs presence.

Please spread the word:

Carmarthen

assemble outside WH Smith’s in Carmarthen at 10.30 am for a march beginning at 11.00 am, ending with a rally in Notts Square at 12.00 noon, or if weather bad, in the Boar’s Head, Lammas Street.

Llandrindod Wells

march and rally organised by joint trade unions, setting off at 11.00 am from Theatr Powys, Tremont Road, Llandrindod Wells LD1 5EB and marching through the town to the Pavilion, Spa Road, Llandrindod Wells LD1 5EY for a 12.00 noon rally with a soup & roll lunch. Coaches to be provided to transport members to Llandrindod as follows: Coach 1: Welshpool – Pick up at Church Street car park (by Spar) at 10:15 am; Newtown – Pick up at Back Lane car park (by bus station) 10:45am. Coach 2: Brecon – Pick up by Police Station, Cambrian Way at 10:45am; Llyswen – Pick up by Bridge Inn at 11:00am; Builth Wells – Pick up at Groe Car Park at 11:15am. Coaches will depart from Llandrindod around 2:30pm (if only to ensure the speeches aren’t too long)

Mold: a march starting at 10.30am from the Council Offices to the Kwik Save car park, ending in a rally at 11.00am.

Swansea: march and rally, organised by the ’4 in 10′ campaign in association with the joint trade unions – assemble 12.00 noon at Guildhall, march either to Castle Square or (if weather bad) to the Unitarian Church in the High Street for a rally;

Wrexham: march and rally – assemble at 12.00 noon in Queens Square for a march around the town centre, finishing at the Miners’ statue in Lord Street, then proceed to the Grove Park Little Theatre on Hill Street, Wrexham LL11 1SN (behind Specsavers, towards Island Green) for a rally.

Bangor

gather at the clock tower (main shopping centre) at 11am. march and rally, organised by the Wales TUC – assemble from 11.30 am outside City Hall, set off at 12.00 noon on a march to the SWALEC stadium, Sophia Gardens, for an indoor rally starting at 1.00 pmWrexham12pm assemble Queens Square  for march to rally at Grove Park Little Theatre.Swansea12pm Guildhall,  assemble for march to rally at Castle Square

Haverfordwest

assemble 11.00am at County Hall for march to Castle Square.

Merthyr Tydfil

rally organised by Merthyr Trades Council in front of the civic centre at 11.00 am.

Llandrindod Wells

march and rally organised by joint trade unions, setting off at 11.00 am from Theatr Powys, Tremont Road, Llandrindod Wells LD1 5EB and marching through the town to the Pavilion, Spa Road, Llandrindod Wells LD1 5EY for a 12.00 noon rally with a soup & roll lunch. Coaches to be provided to transport members to Llandrindod as follows: Coach 1: Welshpool – Pick up at Church Street car park (by Spar) at 10:15 am; Newtown – Pick up at Back Lane car park (by bus station) 10:45am. Coach 2: Brecon – Pick up by Police Station, Cambrian Way at 10:45am; Llyswen – Pick up by Bridge Inn at 11:00am; Builth Wells – Pick up at Groe Car Park at 11:15am. Coaches will depart from Llandrindod around 2:30pm (if only to ensure the speeches aren’t too long)

Aberystwyth

march & rally organised by Ceredigion Against the Cuts – assemble at the top of Penglais Hill (by the entrance to the Cwrt Mawr student village, Aberystwyth SY23 3AN) at 11.30 am on Penglais Hill, march to the Morlan Centre, Queen’s Road, Aberystwyth SY23 2HH for a rally at 12.30 pme

CND Cymru has Cut Trident: Not Jobs, placards and Scrap Trident leaflets and stickers are available for local actions; all you have to do is request some from CND as soon as possible and we’ll post them to you.

• If you know of more demonstrations or events please contact us heddwch@cndcymru.org with details and we will add them to our website www.cndcymru.orgMaybe see you there!

Sad news has reached us last week that Olwen had died peacefully in Bronglais Hospital Aberystwyth . Many will have known Olwen locally through Aberystwyth CND and the Aberystwyth Peace Network, as a stalwart of CND Cymru (Vice Chair for 20 years) and a representative for Cymru on British CND Council (and on the International Advisory Group) as well as her work for the Chernobyl Children’s Project. I have been privileged to call Olwen a comrade and fellow campaigner over many of these years. Olwen was also deeply involved in the Anti-Apartheid struggle. She kept contact with some families in South Africa, and, following Nelson Mandela’s  election as President of South Africa was invited to South Africa House in London for a special reception recognising the work of ordinary campaigners across Britain.

Olwen was a determined woman who was always truly alive. Her family came from Blaenpennal in Ceredigion. Although Welsh in her heart and her language, she spent her early years in the Old Kent Road, London where her family were part of the London-Welsh dairies. Olwen said that her mother had told her that she was always singing, even as a baby. Later she returned to Wales – I believe in 1939 – and went to school in Tregaron, and being a musical young lady was encouraged to go to College and take up singing as a profession. For several years she lived abroad, working for a while as a translator (and singing) for the UN in Rome.

When her mother became infirm in the 1980s Olwen returned again to Wales and cared so gently and tirelessly for Mary. She also taught singing in Aberystwyth University. She was well known around the town for her individual style of dressing (she made her own clothes) and her CND headgear and jewellery.

Olwen’s campaigning heart for peace and justice – and a nuclear free world – are notorious. I personally recall leafleting in the town with her in 1986 raising awareness of the approaching Nuclear Free Wales Festival in Aberystwyth Arts Centre. She was dressed as Margaret Thatcher – and I as a parrot. (That was Olwen’s idea).Around 2,000 people attended the festival that year – there was also a contribution for the newly declared ‘Nuclear Free Aoteroa’ I remember. Of course there was music at the conference – Olwen made certain of that.

1996 Aberystwyth Planting a Tree to Commemorate Hiroshima.

Olwen visited the Soviet Union with the peace delegation and represented us at European Nuclear Disarmament conferences. Whenever on a demonstration, at a conference or a meeting, Olwen would urge us to sing. She would confidently conjure up a protest song and we, at first slightly embarrassed but eventually by the end of the verse, confident and strengthened by the music, would join in. I have sung (as a protestor) alongside Olwen at events at Aldermaston, Molesworth and Greenham and on the streets of London, Carmarthen, Aberystwyth, Brawdy, Cardiff and at Trawsfynydd.

Yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol - Y Bala 1997. Olwen encourages everyone (and the young visitors from cancer hospitals in the Chernobyl - contaminated area of Belarus) to join in and SING!

Writing of Olwen, more is always omitted than can be included!

When I told Olwen’s friend Bruce Kent that she was no longer with us he wrote: ‘an indomitable woman…. She will go on singing somewhere.’

Jill Gough

Olwen wished her ‘funeral’ to be quiet (appropriately, it will be held on 11th November) and wanted instead for there to be an ‘Olwen Party’ – in Aberystwyth Museum (time and date to be confirmed). There will, of course, be music. If you wish to be informed of the details please contact Jill Gough .

Y Bala 1997. Olwen with young visitors from the contaminated areas of Belarus - brought to the Aberystwyth area for a month's respite, as part of The Chernobyl Children's Project