Nuclear Free Local Authorities is concerned over low level radioactive contamination at Trawsfynydd lake, blasting a government consultation as “too short, ill-timed and clumsy”.

Natural Resources Wales called for opinions after Nuclear Restoration Services Limited submitted an application to change its environmental permit. Proposed work would leave low-level radioactive building waste in-situ.

As part of the application NRS plans the demolition, infilling, and capping of the Trawsfynydd Ponds Complex, but NFLA said it “remained fearful” over the potential for “low level radioactive contamination at Trawsfynydd Lake”, said the four week consultation – which ended on 6 August – did not give people enough time to respond, was unhappy that a fee had been charged for some documents and noted delays.

NRW said it still “welcomes correspondence and feedback” whilst it determines the application, and is “committed to keeping the community and environment healthy,” noting there was only made a “small charge” for paper copies.

NFLA secretary Richard Outram, told NRW: “A four-week consultation intended to solicit comments from the public and civil society in the summer is both too short and ill-timed.

“Many likely respondents will have insufficient time to become aware of the proposal, source and read the documents, and formulate a response; more so in July – August when many people take holidays, especially grand/parents with school age children.”

“NRW also made things worse by failing to publish all the documents relating to the consultation on their website; instead interested parties had to ring, or email, to obtain them after an inevitable delay.

“Others reported they had been informed there would be a charge for supplying the documents. Consequently, we described the consultation as ‘too short, ill-timed and clumsy’.

“NRS, which is responsible for decommissioning the former Trawsfynydd plant and safely dealing with residual radioactive waste is proposing to leave contaminated building rubble on-site by burying it in the now redundant cooling pond complex and covering with a concrete cap.

“NFLA is concerned this will prove an inadequate long-term solution.”

Natural Resources Wales said: “We value the feedback following the formal consultation period.

“We continue to welcome correspondence and feedback via [email protected] or 0300 065 3000.

“The most relevant documents were available online on our consultation hub and the full set of technical documents could be made available online on request via our permitting team.

“There was a small charge for paper copies of documents not hosted on our consultation hub.

“Previous consultations have been carried out by applicants NRS ahead of the application being submitted to NRW.

“As the regulator for this application, we are committed to keeping the community and environment healthy.

“We will be consulting with a range of experts, including Public Health Wales, throughout the application, which must meet our safety and environmental standards if it is to be approved.

“This includes considering all potential impacts on the local environment including ground and surface water and Llyn Trawsfynydd.

“Once the determination stage is complete, we will communicate our draft decision and there will be a further consultation.”