Single photo of teenage boy raises concerns among Aussies: ‘You really need a girlfriend’

A young Australian nuclear energy advocate has branded social media users ‘stupid’ after facing a barrage of backlash for hugging a nuclear waste container.

Nuclear for Australia founder Will Shackel, 18, shared a photo on social media of himself smiling with his arms outstretched as he hugged the nuclear waste container just below the warning sign.

The pro-nuclear campaigner took the photo while visiting Sizewell B, the only commercial pressurized water reactor power station in Suffolk, eastern England.

“I just hugged a nuclear waste canister. It is full of fuel elements used in Sizewell B to provide clean, reliable energy to millions of Britons,” he wrote.

‘Importantly, the fuel still retains most of its energy, meaning this waste could provide future opportunities.’

Social media users criticized Mr Shackel, with many claiming he would suffer the consequences of radiation exposure for the stunt.

“Future opportunities or future radiation injuries,” one person commented.

“OH MY GOD. Did you buy a wig to compensate for the hair loss,” a second person wrote.

Nuclear for Australia founder Will Shackel, 18, received a barrage of negative comments after he shared a photo of himself hugging a nuclear waste container at Sizewell B – the commercial power station in Suffolk, eastern England (pictured)

The young pro-nuclear campaigner (pictured) branded the comments ‘immature’ and claimed the ‘so-called adults’ who wrote them did not have the correct information or knowledge about nuclear energy

“Will just hugged a nuclear waste canister. Maybe his balls will shrink and he won’t reproduce,” a third claimed.

A fourth added: “That’s embarrassing. Do something good for the world, become a veterinarian or doctor. A human rights lawyer perhaps.’

A fifth said: ‘You really need a girlfriend.’

Will told Daily Mail Australia the comments he received from ‘so-called adults’ showed a lack of understanding about nuclear energy.

“I pointed out that the radiation I was exposed to as a result of standing next to that bus of spent fuel was so negligible that I probably received significantly more radiation during my flight from Brisbane to London,” he explained.

‘I think people should probably take a good look at themselves and maybe also at their science.

“Because some of those comments about losing my hair and losing fertility, things like that, were just ridiculous.”

He said many Australians and politicians opposed to nuclear energy often relied on references to The Simpsons rather than credible scientific research.

Will said many Australians and politicians opposed to nuclear energy often referred to The Simpsons rather than verified scientific research (pictured, Victorian Prime Minister Jacinta Allan’s team produced this Simpsons-inspired meme)

In the photo, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Finance Dr. Andrew Leigh a photoshopped image of Blinky Bill with three eyes in front of the Springfield nuclear power plant

The Albanian government faced severe setbacks earlier this year due to a fear campaign against Peter Dutton’s nuclear energy policy.

Labor MPs flooded social media with references to The Simpsons, such as toxic spills creating three-eyed fish and koalas.

“There is a huge gap of information in Australia about nuclear energy and for that reason The Simpsons is often people’s only source of information,” Will said.

Will said it is a “big risk” for Australia to adopt a 100 percent renewable energy policy, and that the country needs a balanced mix of renewable energy and nuclear power.

“Australia does not decide not to have all options on the table. This tunnel vision approach to our energy system is really, really dangerous,” Mr. Shackel said.

“Whether it’s not meeting climate targets, risking the lights going out or losing industries and even future industries and the jobs it would create.

“I am really concerned about my future and that of my generation if our politicians do not take action to lift the ban on nuclear energy.”

Will said while Nuclear for Australia did not support any party in the upcoming election, the coalition’s nuclear energy policy was a “welcome development (pictured, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton)

Mr Shackel backed Dutton’s push to build seven nuclear power stations in Australia as part of his election promise.

Under its nuclear power plan, reactors would be built at seven former coal-fired power station sites in Australia, including at Muswellbrook’s Liddell station in the NSW Hunter Valley.

“I wish the Coalition had done something about nuclear power and lifted the ban when they were still in government, but it is certainly encouraging to see Australia finally talking about nuclear power,” Mr Shackel said.

The recent Year 12 graduate explained that he was always interested in technology due to his concerns about Australia’s energy transition and climate crisis.

Will added that he was never taught about nuclear energy at school and founded Nuclear for Australia in 2022 after discovering that Australia was the only top 20 economy with a ban on nuclear energy.

It has since become the nation’s largest nuclear advocacy group, with more than 77,000 supporters, including philanthropist Dick Smith.

Smith warned that Labor politicians will eventually be forced to back nuclear power as he believes their green energy plan is doomed to failure.

“They will be convinced because there is simply no alternative,” Smith said.

‘There will be power outages – you can’t run a country on intermittent solar and wind power; it’s impossible.

“I understand that every state has a ban on nuclear energy, and we also have a federal ban on nuclear energy, so those bans are going to have to be lifted.

“We’re one of the biggest sellers of uranium in the world, but we have legislation that says you can’t even think about it, and that’s completely ridiculous.”

He also claimed that the costs were not prohibitive.

‘I believe in climate change and I worry about my grandchildren.

‘I believe the only answer for the world to tackle the climate is to start using nuclear energy, to embrace it.

“The government claims it’s too expensive, but I said countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan have embraced nuclear power, and they’re poor countries, so it doesn’t make sense that Bangladesh can afford nuclear power and Australia can’t.

When it came to storing nuclear waste, Mr Smith suggested the Olympic Dam in South Australia, which is also a known storage site for uranium.

“I’ve been to the mine at Olympic Dam – there are huge, big cavities where we extracted uranium, that’s where we have to store the waste,” he said.