Wednesday 12 July 2006

Nuclear warning a sign of the times?

South Coast Register, Page: 2
Friday, 7 July 2006

DURING a holiday to Scotland in 2004, Nowra resident Ed Jolly and his family came across the disturbing image of a decommissioned nuclear power plant and a nearby beach polluted with radioactive particles. The sight revealed the end result of a nuclear reactor in an area similar to Murrays Beach and two years later an identical situation is threatening the Jervis Bay environment. Intrigued by the view of new wind farms functioning beside a decommissioned nuclear power plant near Thurso in Scotland, Mr Jolly and his family decided to take a closer look. On close observation they realised the huge infrastructure lay obsolete, about two kilometres away from the beach in a beautiful isolated area.

They continued to the beach only to be confronted with a warning sign. "Warning: Radioactive particles are being found on the beaches at Sandside. It is not advisable to take children or animals on to or dig or remove material from the beach or dune." After Murrays Beach at Jervis Bay was mentioned as a possible nuclear power plant site, Mr Jolly could not help but see the similarities between the two areas and does not want to see the same result.

"It was amazing to see the power plant in Scotland as their past and the wind farms as their future," he said. He said we have plenty of wind, sun and waves in Australia; we do not need nuclear power and what we saw in Scotland is the proof.

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