GERMAN PLUTONIUM SHIPMENT LEAVES FOR SCOTLAND. GREENPEACE WARNS THAT RADIOACTIVE POLLUTION WILL FOLLOW

Amsterdam, 23 December 1997

A shipment of weapons-usable plutonium sailed last night from the German port of Bremerhaven despite a day of Greenpeace protests. The transport, conducted on a dangerous and unstable roll-on/roll-off cargo vessel, is heading into intensely stormy weather during its voyage to the Scottish port of Scrabster near the controversial Dounreay reprocessing factory.

Greenpeace has warned that plutonium processing at Dounreay will lead to significant radioactive contamination of the Atlantic and North Sea.

"By accident or design this shipment will lead to radioactive poisoning of the sea", said Shaun Burnie of Greenpeace International. "Even if this reckless transport arrives "safely" in Scotland, the arrival of this cargo will lead to plutonium processing at Dounreay, which will discharge radioactivity into the sea in any case."

The roll-on/roll-off cargo ship Arneb departed Bremerhaven at approximately 20h00 CET on December 22. The shipment contains 59 kilograms of plutonium. It is anticipated that the Arneb will arrive at the port of Scrabster within some 36 to 48 hours--during Christmas eve. It is believed that licenses have been granted in Germany for the transport of two more plutonium shipments before the end of April 1998.

The German protests reflected opposition to the decision by Germany to send plutonium to Dounreay for processing as well as due to the extraordinary risks involved in shipping highly radiotoxic plutonium on notoriously unstable and unsafe ships.

The German government and nuclear industry have been unable to solve the problem of what to do with the weapons-usable plutonium which has been stored at the Hanau nuclear site. UK government and nuclear industry officials offered to receive the plutonium at the controversial Dounreay reprocessing plant.

The Dounreay factory has been under sustained national and international criticism due to ongoing scandals regarding waste burial and discharges into the sea. The plant is currently seeking new discharge authorization from the UK government which would involve significant radioactive and toxic contamination of the marine and terrestrial environment. Radioactive pollution from the plant lead to a Fall 1997 fishing exclusion zone around the Dounreay discharge pipe.

"It is an outrage that while fishing vessels are banned from the area, the nuclear transports come and go", said Burnie.

Greenpeace is calling for an end to the dangerous trade in plutonium and a halt to further reprocessing and discharges from the Dounreay factory.

For further information:

Shaun Burnie, Greenpeace International, tel: + 44-1557-814-288 -

Luisa Colasimone, Greenpeace Communications, mobile +31 6 53 66 29 70