N U C L E A R W A S T E S H I P M E N T T O J A P A N
TROUBLES OF NUCLEAR WASTE SHIPMENT UNDERSCORE NEED TO HALT REPROCESSING, NUCLEAR SHIPMENTS
13 March 1998
 The British-flagged Pacific Swan, with 30 tons of high-level nuclear waste from France, today docked in the port of Mutsu-Ogasawara in northern Japan's Aomori Prefecture, 325 miles north east of Tokyo. The unloading was delayed after Aomori governor Morio Kimura refused to grant permission because the national government's long-term storage places for the nuclear waste were unclear. Statements from Governments on Route NUCLEAR WASTE SHIPMENTS REQUIRE GREATER OPENNESS 25 February 1998 
 This report written by Hiroyuki Yoshida - the only Japanese reporter there - was for the news paper Mainichi. Greenpeace duplicates it here as it provides a Japanese perspective to the events. Calm in the face of protests by environmentalists, deaf to the concerns of neighboring countries, a tanker transporting reprocessed radioactive nuclear waste from France back to Japan cruised through the Panama Canal on Feb. 6. Japan's failure to explain its opting for the Canal route, and its refusal to address widespread misgivings about the safety of such shipments, are typical of a pattern of secrecy that only deepens the apprehensions it seeks to dismiss. The maritime transport of reprocessed nuclear waste back to Japan is unavoidable as long as Japan relies on other countries to reprocess the spent fuel generated by its nuclear power plants. That being the case, Japan should at least take seriously the safety concerns of countries along the shipment route, and respond in good faith to requests for information. Mainichi web site (Japanese language) JAPANESE NUCLEAR WASTE SHIPMENT SAILS INTO PACIFIC, LEAVING CONTROVERSY IN CARIBBEAN AND LATIN AMERICA 7 February 1998 Panama The British-flagged nuclear waste shipment, which has caused controversy throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, has transited the Panama Canal today and now heads across the Pacific despite stormy weather. The "Pacific Swan" and its cargo of highly radioactive nuclear waste were met with Panamanian protesters and Greenpeace activists, while the ship moved through the Panama Canal on its way to Japan. NUCLEAR WASTE SHIPMENT ENTERS PANAMA CANAL FLYING GREENPEACE BANNER - STOP PLUTONIUM ! 6 February 1998 Panama 
The British-flagged nuclear freighter Pacific Swan entered the first lock of the Panama Canal in the early hours of Friday morning, with three Greenpeace activists from Switzerland, Belgium and Chile attached to the mast of the ship. A Greenpeace banner reading "STOP PLUTONIUM" was flying from the mast. After entering the first lock, Gatun, the Greenpeace activists and the banner were removed by security forces. GREENPEACE BOARDS NUCLEAR WASTE SHIPMENT AS IT APPROACHES PANAMA CANAL 6 February 1998 Panama City (Panama) At approximately 4h30 this morning (Panama time), three Greenpeace activists from Belgium, Switzerland and Chile boarded the Pacific Swan as it approached at slow speed the Panama Canal. The British-flagged nuclear freighter, with its cargo of highly radioactive nuclear waste, is due to pass through the Canal this Friday, on route to Japan. It is the first time that high level nuclear waste is shipped through the Panama Canal, despite Panamanian protestors and intense regional political opposition. NUCLEAR WASTE SHIPMENT ENTERS CARIBBEAN DESPITE INTENSE REGIONAL OPPOSITION Greenpeace Condemns Secrecy and Disregard for the Sovereignty of Caribbean Nations 3 February 1998 Washington, DC. Under cover of darkness, the British-flagged nuclear freighter "Pacific Swan" entered the Caribbean Sea last night through the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The ship passed through waters off the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico despite official protests. GREENPEACE: RADIOACTIVE NUCLEAR WASTE WILL PASS THROUGH PANAMA CANAL WITHOUT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STUDY. 2 February 1998 Amsterdam / Panama In a press conference today in Panama City, the environmental group Greenpeace criticized plans to allow a shipment of high-level nuclear waste to pass through the Panama Canal. According to information from the Panama Canal Commission, the British-flagged Pacific Swan is due to make a first-time transit over the canal on 6 February with a cargo of dangerous highly radioactive nuclear waste. JAPAN CONFIRMS LAST SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL SHIPPED TO FRANCE IN DECEMBER 97 Greenpeace Demands French Government "Stop New Reprocessing Contracts" 28 January 1998 Amsterdam Greenpeace has received confirmation from the Japanese Government that the last shipment of spent nuclear fuel to France under existing reprocessing contracts took place in December. If no new reprocessing contracts between Japanese utilities and France are signed, as promised by the French government, then such dangerous shipments from Japan to France have come to a conclusion. GREENPEACE ACCUSES: NUCLEAR INDUSTRY VIOLATES PLEDGE OF OPENNESS The route of the high level waste shipment is still a secret Amsterdam, January 23 Greenpeace today accused British Nuclear Fuels, Cogema and the Japanese Federation of Electric Power Companies of violating their promises to reveal the route of the nuclear waste shipment, which left Cherbourg (France) on 21 January onboard the Pacific Swan and is currently believed to be off the coast of Portugal. BNFL & COGEMA ADMIT NUCLEAR SHIPMENT WILL PASS THROUGH PANAMA CANAL 22 January 1998 On 18 December 1997, FEPC, Cogema and BNFL announced that the voyage route for the shipment of vitrified residues from France to Japan would be communicated one day after the actual departure date. PICTURES OF GREENPEACE ACTION AGAINST PANAMA NUCLEAR SHIPMENT Cherbourg/ France, 21st January 1998
HIGH LEVEL WASTE SHIPMENT DEPARTS FRANCE AMIDST CARIBBEAN OPPOSITION Paris / Amsterdam, 21st January 1998 The Pacific Swan carrying high level reprocessed waste departed from the French port of Cherbourg at approximately 03h15hrs CET this morning, heading to Japan. It is expected that Cogema, the reprocessing company, will announce on Thursday the route to be taken. Greenpeace believes that the ship will travel via the Caribbean Sea and the Panama Canal. PRESS ADVISORY ON CONGRESSIONAL LETTER ON SHIPMENT Washington, 17 January 1998 Members of Congress from the Caribbean and Pacific regions have sent a strongly worded letter to President Clinton, protesting the impending first-time shipment through the Panama Canal of intensely radioactive waste aboard a British ship from France to Japan. The waste results from plutonium production for Japan's nuclear program. GREENPEACE REVEALS THAT NUCLEAR WASTE WILL BE SHIPPED FOR THE FIRST TIME THROUGH PANAMA CANAL 13 January 1998 Greenpeace released today a confidential memo from the French Government, which reveals plans by the plutonium industry to ship high-level nuclear waste from France to Japan for the first time though the Panama Canal, the shortest and therefore the che apest route. This controversial shipment will also be the largest ever of this deadly nuclear waste by the French plutonium company COGEMA |
