Council to withdraw from anti-nuclear partnership

Nicholas Thomas, Local Democracy Reporter

Proposals to leave an anti-nuclear partnership organisation have caused a heated reaction among members of a south Wales council.

Caerphilly County Borough Council put forward plans to withdraw from Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA), which it joined in 1996.

Cllr Nigel George, the cabinet member for corporate services, said: “In the coming months and years, the council may be signing energy purchase agreements which could include nuclear energy”.

In a report, the council sets out “proposed investment opportunities in nuclear energy” and described a “policy disconnect” between the authority’s aims and “those of the NFLA”.

Plaid Cymru councillor Donna Cushing was one of several from her party who voiced opposition to the proposed withdrawal.

She said she was “totally against” leaving NFLA, adding that while some nuclear reactors operated for a few decades, “the waste they produce can last thousands of years”.

Cllr Teresa Parry told colleagues she was “anti-nuclear” and wanted “future generations to be nuclear-free”.

She said she was concerned about the references in the report to “investment opportunities” in nuclear power.

Some Labour councillors argued the proposed withdrawal was not reflective of any changing council position on nuclear energy, but more simply about leaving an organisation it was deemed no longer necessary to be a part of.

“There is no message going out by this council to build a nuclear power station in the middle of this borough,” the council leader, Cllr Jamie Pritchard, said.

He also said Plaid politicians on Anglesey were “in support” of proposals to build a new nuclear power station at Wylfa.

A majority of councillors voted to approve the withdrawal from NLFA, after earlier defeating Cllr Judith Pritchard’s call for a deferral for members to have a full debate on the wider issue.