Nuclear waste storage: Government officials grilled over proposal for historic village Sallys Flat
Dozens of people have attended a community meeting to grill Federal Government officials over a proposal to store nuclear waste near a historic village in the Bathurst district in central west New South Wales.
Sallys Flat is one of six sites around Australia shortlisted by the Federal Government to host the country's first permanent nuclear waste dump.
A community meeting is being held in Hill End today to discuss the possibility that the neighbouring village of Sallys Flat could be chosen to store the material.
The meeting, at Hill End's Royal Hall, is the first chance locals have had to hear directly from Federal Government representatives about the decision to shortlist the site.
Commonwealth officials told residents the site would only accept low and intermediate radioactive waste generated in Australia.
Residents said the Federal Government was struggling to make a strong case for the proposed site.
Rick Burns owns a property on the Macquarie River near the village, and says he remains unconvinced the region is suitable for storing nuclear waste.
"I hope they look very hard at central Australia, even though the logistics are a bit hard. But at least if accidents happen there they're not going to poison rivers and give people cancer," he said.
Community in the dark, residents say
Neighbouring landowner Robyn Rayner said the entire community was in the dark about the proposal.
"To this day we have no information stating how it will affect us personally or the community as a whole," Mrs Rayner said.
"Because it's such an important issue, it should have been dealt with, with far more information.
" ... open and transparency, are the words the government department are using.
"I think they need to start doing that."
Mrs Rayner said there were many questions residents wanted to ask.
"How are we going to run a business with a nuclear waste dump directly across the road and am I expected to live here?
"Can I leave here?"
Government officials have told the meeting there could be economic benefits for the community, including millions in infrastructure funds.
Geoff Rayner lives next to the proposed site and said many questions about the potential impacts remain unanswered.
"The general consensus today that was sent back to the Minister was that we don't want the site here and hopefully the message will get home," he said.
"I don't know how much money they want to throw at roads or the infrastructure, but there is a lot of questions that the fellas today couldn't answer. But hopefully they will go away and try and arm themselves with answers."
Government officials get 'a feel' for site
Government officials have inspected the proposed site and spoken to the neighbouring residents.
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science spokesman Bruce Wilson said he had also held talks with landowners who lived next to the proposed site.
"I think we were able to give them sufficient, or good information on the nature of the material that would be stored at the facility," Mr Wilson said.
"The fact that any facility will be fully environmentally safe and it will not pose any risks, or any material risks, to human health and safety or the environment."
Mr Wilson said the visit was primarily to get a "feel for the site" and was not a technical assessment.
"The next part of the overall assessment at this stage is also then to assess community support for the site," he said,
"Based on the technical assessment and the views of the community, we will then be advising the Minister who is looking to then choose two or three sites to proceed to the more detailed technical assessment."
When it was announced earlier this month, Resources and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said the local community near the chosen site would have access to $10 million to put towards infrastructure projects.
Three of the other proposed sites are in South Australia - Cortlinye, Pinkawillinie, and Barndioota.
Hale, in the Northern Territory, and Oman Ama, in Queensland, are also on the shortlist.