A Holiday Tip for 2008

Fancy a cruise on a lovely lake in Wales? Lib Rowlands-Hughes, our Wales correspondent, has sent a glossy brochure recommending ‘Traws-Sailing’. ‘Enjoy a pleasant cruise, for about an hour’s duration, on Trawsfynydd Lake, taking in the magnificent scenery of South Snowdonia safely and comfortably on board Prysorwen, our 50-foot Dutch waterbus,’ says the blurb, which features two photos of the motor boat on the lake, and sure enough, in the background is the beautiful scenery of the lake shore.

The lake is man-made, and was created in 1928 for the Maentwrog hydro power station. What the brochure fails to mention (anywhere!) is that the lake subsequently served to supply the coolant water to the Trawsfynydd nuclear power station, and that the lake, after years of receiving nuclear waste, has been described as the most radioactive lake in Europe. All other nuclear power stations in Britain are set by the sea, and can discharge into the open ocean, but the lake, having no outlet, has had to take the accumulation of all the years of active life of its nuclear power station, which is now in the process of decommissioning.

At least the careful omission of any reference to the adjacent defunct nuclear power station does show that the tour guides know very well how much the public distrust nuclear power and its toxic radioactive waste. Especially, I might add, in Wales, where after a unanimous decision by all the regional Councils, Wales became a nuclear-free zone.

If you do go on a trip on the lake, it might be a good idea to wear lead underpants.

H. D.