Wollongong City Council's long-held position that the city is a nuclear-free zone could prove meaningless, as local government has no power to stop nuclear waste being transported along the area's roads.After receiving notification from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation last November of plans to transport waste through the "Sydney-Illawarra" region, the city's general manager David Farmer wrote to ANSTO informing the federal agency of the council's position."In March 1980 (the) council resolved to declare its area a nuclear-free zone, to the extent that it would prohibit the mining, storing, manufacturing, transporting and shipping of fissionable nuclear materials, by-products and wastes," Mr Farmer wrote."(The) council became a member of the Australian Nuclear Free Zones Secretariat in 1986 and remained a member until the abolition of the Secretariat in 1995" and "reaffirmed its nuclear-free stance in November 1996 and again in March 2002."The Greens and the South Coast Labour Council have expressed concern at ANSTO plans to send spent nuclear fuel rods to Port Kembla along Wollongong's "accident-prone roads" and expect the council's position to be respected.ANSTO's general manager of public affairs, Andrew Humpherson, said the waste would be transported on "public roads" and previous shipments from Port Botany had travelled through council areas designated nuclear-free.Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said a NSW parliamentary inquiry into the transportation of nuclear waste found "there is no doubt that the transportation of radioactive waste increases the risk of accident or incident (including some form of terrorist intervention)".However, Kiama MP Matt Brown, who was vice-chairman of the committee, said the "hysteria" needed to be taken out of the debate."This should be an open public process, but when the facts are on the table the public will see there is more politics than sensible policy being played here," Mr Brown said."Do we want the necessary medical advancements and do we want to keep our top nuclear physicists in Australia? I say yes."Mr Brown said medical needs and the issue of waste transport could not be separated as Australia did not have the facilities to deal with the waste.He also dismissed Wollongong council's position as a nuclear-free area as "a furphy"."Wollongong hospital and a number of places have nuclear signs on them," he said.Mr Humpherson said the possible switch to Port Kembla was due to the upgrade works at Botany.ANSTO will hold a briefing open to the public at 6pm on Tuesday, March 3, at Wollongong Golf Club.EDITORIAL Facts not hysteria - Page 14