More than three decades after it was decommissioned, Trawsfynydd power station could once more house a nuclear reactor.

Under plans being drawn up by the UK Government, the site will be one of two in Wales to be fitted with a “small modular reactor” (SMRs) — fission reactors smaller than conventional pressurised water reactors (PWR) found in traditional nuclear power plans. Trawsfynydd’s PWR was decommissioned in 1991 and the process of shutting it down is still underway.

But the plans to revive the Gwynedd power plant with a new SMR have met with considerable local opposition.

On Sunday, 4 September, some 80 protesters attended a rally outside Trawsfynydd to highlight their opposition to the government plans.

Bethan Siân Jones, the national secretary for Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Cymru and a main organiser of the rally told the Cambrian News she was “insulted and offended” by the government’s response to climate change.

“It’s green-washing nuclear energy,” she said, adding that the government was trying to convince people nuclear energy is safe and green.

“Radiation knows no borders,” she said, adding that the 1986 nuclear meltdown of the Chernobyl reactors spread radiation across Europe, with the mountains of Wales absorbing enough radiation to force restrictions on 344 local farms for 25 years. That radiation was released 1,500 miles away, she explained.

Ms Jones also organised a CND rally at Wylfa on Angelsey, the other site in Wales proposed for a SMR under the programme. While the reactors are considered to be “small”, CND say they are, in fact, the size of two football fields.

The protesters plan to spend the week walking the 52 miles between the two Welsh sites to highlight the dangers of nuclear power. They will be hosting social nights with music, poetry and readings after each day’s march.

Other groups taking part in the protests are members of CADNO (Cymdeithas Atal Dinistr Niwclear Oesol), a local group opposed to the original Trawsfynydd nuclear power station.

CND and CADNO are among some 30 local groups that have signed the “Caernarfon Declaration” — a pledge to oppose the installation of SMRs and to make Wales nuclear free. The declaration also seeks to promote green energy and make buildings better insulated and more energy efficient.

The Caernarfon Declaration also highlights that it’s now 40 years since all local councils in Wales signed on to making the nation nuclear free.

Ynni Ogwen, a community benefit company aiming to produce sustainable power mostly through hydro power on Afon Ogwen, also participated in the protests. Spokesperson, Mel Davies said her parents had once been the “most irradiated people in the country” and were routinely monitored and tested. “As part of this they were asked ‘Have you been eating fish from Trawsfynydd lake?’” she said.

Ms Davies highlighted one major benefit of renewable energy is 70 per cent of investment will stay local.

“Can Hitachi or Rolls Royce say the same?” she asked. The two companies are developing the SMRs.