JAPANESE HIGH LEVEL NUCLEAR WASTE CARGO HEADING TO TROUBLED EUROPEAN REPROCESSING FACTORIES OF LA HAGUE AND SELLAFIELD
Amsterdam, August 7, 1997
Greenpeace has revealed that a new
Japanese shipment of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel, bound for
European reprocessing factories, is scheduled to enter the Panama Canal
on the afternoon of Friday, August 8. The shipment of four spent fuel
containers is due to arrive in Europe in approximately two weeks time.
The containers are destined for the La Hague (operated by COGEMA, France)
and Sellafield (operated by British Nuclear Fuel , BNFL, United Kingdom)
reprocessing factories.
La Hague reprocessing factory has recently been under fire due to
Greenpeace revelations that COGEMA's discharges are 17 million times more
radioactive than normal sea water and that sediments sampled around the
discharge pipe showed radioactive contamination of the marine
environment. An independent research from Pr Viel had previously found a
leukaemia cluster in the region around the French reprocessing plant,
while a recent study from the British Department of Health (1) has found
traces of plutonium from the Sellafield reprocessing factory in teeth of
children throughout Britain.
The Pacific Pintail, a British-flagged vessel owned by Pacific Nuclear
Transport Limited (PNTL), left Shika nuclear power plant (2) on July 15,
amidst public protest against the ship's departure. The four spent fuel
containers - two TN-type casks bound for France and two Excellox casks
bound for Britain - are tested to conditions far below those present in
an accident and represent a potential safety hazard.
"Spent nuclear fuel shipments pose multiple environmental and security
risks and must be halted," said Mike Tannsley of Greenpeace. "By
transporting these dangerous materials to Europe for reprocessing, Japan
is simply transferring an environmental risk to other countries while
adding to the already-vast stockpile of weapon-usable plutonium of COGEMA
and BNFL".
Countries along routes of high-level nuclear waste shipments have
long-protested the risks posed to them due to threat of accidents in
transit. Many countries, including regional governmental associations
such as the South Pacific Forum and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM),
have issued statements against such transports, yet Japan, Britain and
France persist with these dangerously radioactive transports.
Japan is reported to be near the end of spent nuclear fuel shipments to
COGEMA and BNFL under current reprocessing contracts (of 7100 metric
tonnes of spent fuel). Both BNFL and COGEMA representatives have recently
been to Japan to encourage new reprocessing contracts, which would result
in new waves of shipments, continued discharge of nuclear waste into the
environment and further stockpiling of weapon-usable plutonium. "Japan
and all client states (3) must stop negotiations with COGEMA and BNFL for
new reprocessing contracts," said Tannsley "Countries engaged in
reprocessing are guilty of dumping their nuclear waste problems on France
and Britain, with resultant discharge into the sea of radioactive waste.
This irresponsible practice must cease."
For information:
Mike Tannsley, Greenpeace International, +44 1835 840 234
NOTES
(2) Shika nuclear power plant is located on the west coast of Japan on
Ishikawa Prefecture's Noto Peninsula. Shika is a boiling water reactor
(BWR) which began commercial operation in 1993 and is owned by the
Hokuriku Electric Power Company.
(3) In addition to its domestic contracts, La Hague has also received
irradiated fuel and reprocessed plutonium for Germany, Japan, Belgium,
The Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden and Spain. Sellafield has signed
plutonium reprocessing contracts with Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Italy,
Spain, Sweden and The Netherlands.
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