On Friday 17 December Green Party Parliamentary Candidate Martin

Whiteside and Deputy Mayor of Stroud John Marjoram visited Berkeley

Visiting the power station which is in the process of being

decommissioned and the laboratories prepared for sell off Martin

Whiteside said "it is important to understand the long term

consequences of the nuclear power industry".  "The high level waste

produced during the brief operating life of Berkeley, and now stored at

Sellafield and elsewhere, is likely to be a burden to our children and

grandchildren for 1000 years".  The reactor building and some

intermediate level waste are likely to remain encased on site for the

next 80 years while their radioactivity reduces through decay.

Meanwhile Berkeley Town and the surrounding area will suffer job losses

and damage to the local shops as the 1,200 jobs currently at Berkeley

are lost - unless new jobs are successfully generated on the laboratory

site.

Martin Whiteside said "there seems excellent opportunities for new jobs

to be generated on the laboratory site - but it is absolutely essential

that there is a fully independent assessment of any past contamination

and the risks from the old power station - only this will give business

the confidence to invest in what could be an excellent high technology

business park site". There are some high quality buildings on the

laboratory site that could be re-used.

There are also other opportunities for more joined-up thinking.

"Better bus services to the site could improve the journey to work for

many people while reducing the traffic on the lanes leading to the

site".  "Planting appropriate vegetation around the reactor site which

need to remain undisturbed for 80 years could provide a haven for

biodiversity - salvaging some benefits from the skeleton of the nuclear