A new solar farm near a nuclear plant received Scotland officials' approval. 

(Photo : Photo by PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
This photograph shows a solar panel on the construction site of a solar farm of the Jpee company, a French solar energy equipment supplier, in Pessac on the outskirts of Bordeaux, southwestern France, on November 15, 2022.

This means that the solar energy-gathering farm will soon be constructed. 
It will be located near the decommissioned Chapelcross nuclear site in southern Scotland. 

Of course, many people will ask why government officials gave the go-signal to build the new solar farm, especially since nuclear sites are considered unsafe for humans. 

There are several reasons why Scottish authorities said yes to this new solar farm near the Chapelcross nuclear site. 

Solar Farm Near Nuclear Plant to Be Constructed in Scotland

According to BBC News' latest report, officials said yes to the new solar farm because the clean-energy project has been carefully designed. 

(Photo : Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Wind turbines stand behind a solar power park on October 30, 2013 near Werder, Germany. The German Social Democrats (SPD) and Christian Democrats (CDU and CSU) are currently in the midst of negotiations to form a new German government and renewable energy policy is among their main points of discussion.

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This means that although the solar plant is near a nuclear site, any environmental impact would be kept to a minimum. 

Aside from this, the solar farm construction would also support around 60 jobs. Once it is completed, it will have 75,000 solar panels. 

Matthew Bayley, one of the members of developers Green Energy International, explained that the new solar plant could meet the electricity needs of a town the size of Annan. 

He added that the solar energy-gathering plant could do this during the next 40 years once it is active. 

"It was the substation at Chapelcross that was the magnet for the solar farm itself," said Bayley.  

Is the Solar Farm Safe? 

The Chapelcross is a four-reactor nuclear site. It started back in 1959 and was decommissioned in June 2004. 

Since the nuclear power plant is already in its decommissioning phase, this means that its operations are already inactive. 

But, dead nuclear power sites may still pose some health risks to people living nearby them. 

CDC explained that a nuclear power plant's radioactive materials could contaminate the water, livestock, food, and buildings near the area. 

Once people are exposed to these radioactive materials, they can experience long-term health effects, including cancer. 

In other news, Australia announced that it would install the country's largest floating array of solar panels. 

In California, the world's second-largest solar energy storage was finally activated. 

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Written by Griffin Davis