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Remote Australian town wrestles with nuclear future

KIMBA (AUSTRALIA) - Next to the Kimba Area School oval sit three disused rainwater tanks, each decorated with murals giving a glimpse into life in this isolated, rural Australian town.

Mr Jeff (L) and Andrew (R) Baldock has volunteered a section of their land to the federal government as a potential site for a nuclear waste storage and disposal facility.

Mr Jeff (L) and Andrew (R) Baldock has volunteered a section of their land to the federal government as a potential site for a nuclear waste storage and disposal facility.

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KIMBA (AUSTRALIA) - Next to the Kimba Area School oval sit three disused rainwater tanks, each decorated with murals giving a glimpse into life in this isolated, rural Australian town.

On one tank, an oversized grain harvester ploughs through columns of wheat, shooting grains into the back of a truck, and is surrounded by the words: "What you sow now, you will harvest later," written in big, green and gold letters.

In a community that sits on the edge of one of Australia's primary wheat growing regions, the message was likely intended to motivate young minds to study hard and plan for their futures.

But in recent years, the chunky, block letters have taken on a more profound meaning after two local families volunteered parts of their farmland to the federal government as potential storage sites for Australia's nuclear waste.

While the government is expected to decide by the end of the year where the facility will go, the process has split Kimba -- a town of roughly 650 people -- almost exactly down the middle.

Last year, a ballot conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission found 57.4 per cent of voters were in favour of the facility, which would dispose of and store Australia's low-to-intermediate-level nuclear waste, generated by the medical industry.

The facility, set to cost up to A$300 million (S$304.63 million), is expected to create at least 45 new jobs, something which Kimba District Mayor Dean Johnson sees as a lifeline for the small town, whose population has steadily declined in recent years.

"We have no full-time doctor in town. Certainly, if we had another 45 people in town, we'd be looking at another two or three doctors, not just one," he said in an interview.

Not just doctors, but red dirt roads outside the town centre would be tarred and sealed, and patchy telecommunications coverage would be improved.

Not to mention the minimum A$10 million Capital Contribution Fund from the government, to be spent as the community sees fit.

But those against the facility say they are already entitled to basic infrastructure as taxpayers, and that no amount of economic stimulation would be enough to support the town if its agricultural produce were to lose value.

"My business, like everyone in the district, is growing grain for export and also merino sheep," said local farmer Jeff Koch, 43, who is worried about how a nuclear waste facility could be perceived by buyers and surrounding wheat growers on the Eyre Peninsula.

"We don't grow a lot but what we do grow is usually of high quality and at a premium, and I think any potential to harm that is going to drop down our competitiveness," he said.

The history of nuclear tests and dumping in the state of South Australia -- where Kimba is located -- also weighs heavily on Mr Koch's mind.

During the 1950s, the British government conducted 12 major nuclear weapons tests in the state's outback. Whistleblowers would later describe an Australian government cleanup in the 1990s as a "cheap and nasty" solution that saw tons of contaminated debris buried in shallow, unlined pits.

"If someone's been in control (of nuclear waste disposal and storage in Australia), I'm not comfortable with whoever's been given the job. And I'm worried about the government not managing it properly again," Mr Koch said.

But technology and government accountability have improved in the almost 70 years since the last major atomic testing, according to the Baldock family, which has volunteered 110 hectares of its land for the potential facility.

The family says the financial compensation it will receive for selling its land at four times its original value is nothing compared to the opportunity to ensure Kimba's future.

"The facility will operate for 100 years, and then 200 years monitoring afterwards," said Mr Jeff Baldock, 60. "If it comes to Kimba, we can guarantee that our town will still be operating in 300 years' time."

And in a town where "everybody's dad's a farmer, and everybody's mum's a teacher or works at the bank," Mr Jeff's son Andrew, 35, argued that people need to learn to diversify, and the presence of a new industry in town provides an opportunity for Kimba's youngest residents.

"To give schoolkids exposure to professions and other industries, I think for my daughters, yeah, it's really important for them to have exposure to science," he said.

"Potentially they can work in a highly paid profession without leaving Kimba, around their extended families as well."

Kimba's residents overflow with town pride, and a strong spirit of volunteerism has forged what people from both sides of the argument describe as a "tight-knit community."

But the waste facility proposal has changed the atmosphere around town, a sentiment felt particularly by those who are against, who are frustrated at attempts to downplay the issue by those supporting the site.

"People like to brush it over and say that's not happening, but if you've lived in this town forever, it's obvious something's happening," said Ms Shylie Harris, 31.

"It's awkward. You can't go into your own supermarket and feel comfortable to do the shopping," she lamented.

The decision-making process is said to be affecting peoples' mental health, and the community has already lost at least one young family and one business to the growing tensions.

Others, like Ms Toni Scott, are being forced to consider their options as the government's decision inches closer.

"My husband talks about going but I won't let him talk about it because it gets me too upset," the 35-year-old said, explaining her colleagues have also raised the idea of leaving town.

"We bought a second farm because we have two boys. Our intention, our whole living, has been to set that up for our kids, here. It's the best place in the world to raise your kids, but (now) it's testing," she said.

Regardless of what decision the government hands down by the end of the year, the residents of Kimba will have no choice but to come together and make do with the harvest that's been sown. KYODO NEWS

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