Pacific Pintail entering
Panama Canal.
Statement of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR)
on the Transhipment of Nuclear and Radioactive Waste through the Caribbean
Sea
The Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR), meeting in Castries, St Lucia on May 6-7, 2002, registers its deep concern and consternation at reports that two nuclear transport vessels are currently en route to Japan through the Caribbean Sea to undertake the most controversial nuclear shipment in history, that of returning to Sellafield, in defiance of international law, a rejected cargo of deadly plutonium MOX fuel. The likelihood of the return journey also transiting the Caribbean Sea is of grave concern to the Foreign Ministers.
The COFCOR stresses that the events of September 11th, 2001, and the subsequent public revelations that nuclear options have indeed been explored by terrorist groups, clearly demonstrate that the threat of nuclear accident or nuclear terrorism is very real. In these circumstances, and at a time when the international community is so heavily focused on security issues, it is inconceivable that these dangerous shipments should be allowed to continue on a routine basis, without regard to the obvious and escalating risks to which they expose all societies in their transit path.
The COFCOR expresses its deep disappointment at the lack of adequate prior notification of these shipments and at the absence of any comprehensive environmental impact assessment on this matter undertaken by the shipping or receiving states.
The COFCOR warmly welcomes the initiative taken by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda in requesting a study by the OAS of the implications for the safety and security of coastal states posed by the transshipment of nuclear wastes through their marine space. It is also heartened by the legal challenge undertaken by the Irish Government against the shipments and the close attention being paid by countries of the Pacific Forum to this issue. It recognized the efforts being made by the Panamanian Environment Committee to have legislation adopted which would prohibit nuclear transports from using the Panama Canal. It offers its full support to this initiative, and expresses its hope for the early adoption of the relevant legislation by the Panamanian Congress.
The COFCOR reiterates, in the strongest possible terms, its implacable and steadfast opposition to the continued use of the Caribbean Sea for the transshipment of nuclear waste. It urges those responsible to respect the clearly expressed wishes of the Governments and peoples of Caribbean Basin states to desist from this practice which represents the most devastating threat to the safety and security of the region. For their part the Caribbean Governments vow to examine every possible legal and other recourse to halt this dangerous practice which the current international security environment has rendered even more unacceptable.
Castries, Saint Lucia
7 May 2002
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