He said while he was not a scientist, he did not believe the waste from nuclear medicine is anything to worry about should Sallys Flat be selected from a shortlist of six sites to host a permanent nuclear waste dump.

“This is low level stuff – hospital waste mostly,” he said.

“I’m very relaxed about it.

“I’m not a scientist but I think once it is in the repository it’s not a problem.”

Sallys Flat made the shortlist after an unidentified local landholder volunteered their property to host the dump site.

While remoteness was a criteria for the shortlist, Sallys Flat lies between Sofala and Hill End and is just 45 kilometres from Bathurst.

“Remoteness is in the eye of the beholder,” Mr Cobb said.

“To me Tibooburra is remote. Sallys Flat is not remote in Australian terms, but it is remote within the Bathurst Regional Council area.”

While Mr Cobb had little concern about the transport of nuclear medical waste into his electorate, he was slightly less sure about the intermediate level waste which is largely from laboratories. 

He said there might be a problem if there was an accident while the waste was being transported. 

Mr Cobb said the medical waste would be transported in 44 gallon drums, while the higher level waste will be encased in concrete and put inside a shipping container. 

“Even if there was an accident the big barrels would just roll around and it would be very hard to break them up. Also, the waste would still be encased in hard matter so it wouldn’t be out there floating around,” he said.

“The danger is far less than that posed by the fuel we move on our roads every day.”

Security concerns did not worry him – “It’s not dangerous enough for an idiot terrorist to make the effort”. Nor did environmental concerns – “I expect the waste would go into a big bunker in the ground, so I don’t think there would be any possibility of it leaching into the soil or water”.

And if Sallys Flat was chosen, there would be money available for the local community, as well as other benefits, including jobs.

“If the roads aren’t up to scratch, they will be fixed,” he said.

Mr Cobb has encouraged people who have concerns to contact his Bathurst or Orange offices, adding he understands that people do have fears when it comes to anything nuclear. 

“People have a right to ask whatever questions they want,” Mr Cobb said.

“When people think nuclear they tend to think of places like Fukushima and Chernobyl. 

“We are talking about medical waste, not uranium.  It’s so benign compared to a nuclear reactor.”