Anglesey Council has confirmed that it will not volunteer the island to take part in a government search for sites to bury the UK’s stockpile of its most dangerous radioactive waste despite the promise of substantial financial incentives and “well paid jobs.”

Gwynedd Council, meanwhile, says that no discussions have taken place despite a local AM urging Welsh local authorities to respond to a consultation by Radioactive Waste Management (RWM) and “declare clearly” that Wales doesn’t welcome permanent geological waste sites.

England and Wales have been divided into sub-regions which could potentially house an underground Geological Disposal Facility (GDF), with the current consultation closing on April 14.

The process involves placing waste in sealed vaults and tunnels deep underground, beneath several hundred metres of solid rock.

This, says the Government, allows radioactivity to decay naturally over time, and prevents it from reaching the surface in levels that could cause harm -despite it  taking many tens or even hundreds of thousands of years for radioactive waste to decay to harmless levels.

Denbighshire county councillors have already given a firm ‘no’ despite a promise that communities would receive £1 million a year for listening to the sales pitch, rising to £2.5 million a year, for an expected 20 years, if a county got to the exploratory phase with the likes of bore holes being drilled to assess geological suitability of a site.

In addition, RWM says, “there will be hundreds of well-paid jobs every year for over a century with further opportunities for the local supply chain”.

After being approached by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a spokesman for Gwynedd Council said that no discussions have been held by the authority while Anglesey Council confirmed that it would not be making a voluntary application.

But in a question to Welsh Government Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths, Rhun ap Iorwerth raised concerns over the consultation process .

Mr ap Iorwerth said in the Senedd: “Constituents of mine have raised concerns that there is an effort here by RWM to move towards a less open consultation process and I also have a number of concerns regarding the consultation process.

“My main concern is that it is possible for one landowner or one business even to express an interest in make an application to express interest in hosting a site for radioactive waste disposal, and I think that is totally unacceptable, especially in the context where local authorities may have long since said they don’t want such sites in their area, as Anglesey Council has done.

“If a Local Authority has said they don’t want a disposal site in their area then that should be the end of the matter, and councils in Wales should be declaring clearly between now and the end of the consultation on April 14th that we don’t welcome permanent geological waste sites here in Wales.”

No details of any potential sites have been public, with it being understood that RWM is seeking “a willing host community” where radioactive waste could be stored hundreds of metres underground.

Such geological disposal facilities are designed as such that, according to the Government, the radioactive waste is buried under so much rock that no radioactivity can escape.

A Gwynedd Council spokesperson said: “The Geological Disposal Facility for radioactive waste consultation has not been the subject of any discussions by Gwynedd Council and we have not been approached by any local communities regarding this matter.”

While an Anglesey Council spokesman said, “The Isle of Anglesey County Council is not considering making a voluntary application to host a geological disposal facility.”