SNUS at Pohoda – again with Info-kiosk

The Pohoda Summer Music Festival has been transformed over the years from the one-day event it was back on 1997 to what is now the most attended 3-day multi-cultural open-air event currently organised in Slovakia. Slovak Nuclear Society (SNUS) again participated at the festival with the aim of presenting the many peaceful applications of nuclear energy in medicine, education, science, industry.

The SNUS Info-kiosk was located in the NGO section at the centre of the festival’s activities, close to the main stage. The location helped increase visitors’ interest in the Info-kiosk, especially in the competitions that had been prepared for visitors. For the first competition visitors-competitors measured the shielding capacity of their bodies against ionizing radiation. The one with the shielding capacity closest to the benchmark (which was the shielding capacity of the SNUS Young Generation chairman) won a mountain bike. The lucky Winner, Matej Povazan, went home on his new bike!

The second competition – a Quiz on Nuclear Energy - was more difficult and required some knowledge to answer all the questions. Most competitors did not have sufficient knowledge and had to look for it at the Info-kiosk, in posters or in discussions with SNUS YG members. Three participants with the most correct answers to the quiz won mini-tablets that were provided by the nuclear power plant operator - Slovenske Elektrarne. It was funny to see competitors running from one poster to another and to listen to their discussions about ‘what for heaven’s sake is a ‘Becquerel’.

Another attraction was a charging table for mobile phones. Its capacity was used at 100 % and sometimes there desperate pleas for a “little bit of energy”. Obviously, many people came to have a look out of curiosity, to get information or answers to unanswered questions, which YG members gladly tried to provide. The main topics discussed were Radon (a gas that is released from the ground or building materials and which has to be removed from buildings by venting), radiation and the safety of nuclear installations.

The most interesting moment for me was when a 15 years old boy, even before the info-kiosk was officially opened, kept the organizers on their toes with clever and precise questions. He gave some young professionals a tough time and they had their work cut out to satisfy his curiosity. The interest of festival attendees in nuclear power and nuclear energy was extraordinary, and I was not the only one who was surprised. We even had foreign visitors, a young couple from Russia. We are already looking forward to next year’s festival, once again with SNUS Young Generation heavily involved!

Richard Borbély
SNUS Young Generation