GREENPEACE INSTALLS ITS 'OSPAR' DEVICE AT THE END OF FRENCH NUCLEAR WASTE DISCHARGE PIPE
Greenpeace urges countries in Copenhagen to back a Danish proposal to ban nuclear reprocessing

28 June 2000

MV GREENPEACE, (NORMANDY COAST) -- Last night and early this morning Greenpeace installed a device on the end of the discharge pipe of France's reprocessing facility at La Hague, from which over one million litres of liquid radioactive waste a day is dumped into the sea. The device, called OSPAR (Object to Stop Pollution from Accumulation of Radioactivity) divides the radioactive discharge into 6 separate streams, one for each of La Hague's client countries (1). Each has a separate valve, illustrating the ease of ending the discharges.

The installation of the device sends a clear signal to the annual meeting of the OSPAR Commission, in Copenhagen, at which a decision on a proposal for an immediate prohibition of nuclear reprocessing is expected to be made on Thursday (2). On a big screen at the OSPAR conference centre Greenpeace is showing live images of the "OSPAR-device" using the webcam installed by Greenpeace on Sunday.

In addition to installing the OSPAR device, Greenpeace divers also attempted to repair the cable which links the under water webcam to a floating transmitter 30m above, used to send the images to a land based receiver from which they are uploaded onto the internet. Last night, at 19:20, a Cogema [the operators of the nuclear reprocessing facility] inflatable cut the cable, ending the live Internet broadcast. According to a Cogema press release, the cut was "accidental". Greenpeace will again try to fix the severed cable so that web surfers and delegates at the OSPAR meeting can once more bear witness to the source of radioactive contamination. In 36 hours the Greenpeace underwater webcam site received 53,000 visitors. It was also displayed on a big screen at the OSPAR meeting.

In Copenhagen, ten countries expressed support yesterday for the Danish and Irish proposals to ban nuclear reprocessing. Discussions will continue today and tomorrow morning. France and the UK vigorously opposed the proposal. Reportedly, France' s main argument was that it is "a sovereign state". In response, Greenpeace representative at the OSPAR meeting, Remi Parmentier said that "the sovereign rights of any country does not include any right to spill radioactive wastes into the sea, which is part of the common heritage of all humankind". Parmentier said that it was premature to predict the final outcome of the OSPAR Conference, but anticipated that the ban on nuclear reprocessing "could be adopted as soon as Thursday this week".

Greenpeace is continuing its peaceful protest despite an order from the Prefet Maritime, to take its ship, the MV Greenpeace, divers and web cam out of French territorial waters by 8:00 Tuesday morning. "Greenpeace has informed the Prefect that it will continue its peaceful protest against nuclear pollution at this important time when the OSPAR countries can seize the opportunity to ban reprocessing," said Jean-Luc Thierry of Greenpeace France on board MV Greenpeace.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Remi Parmentier, +45 209 920592 in Copenhagen
- Jean-Luc Thierry, +336 15910237 on board the MV Greenpeace
- Mike Townsley, in Copenhagen +31 62129 6918 (m)
- Luisa Colasimone, in Paris+31 62129 6920
Stills and video available from: +31 653819121 (stills) or 31653504721 (footage)

Further information from www.greenpeace.org/~nuclear/ospar2000/ and
www.cogemalahague.fr/

(1) Cogema's clients are France, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.

(2) At the annual meeting of the OSPAR Commission, the intergovernmental organisation that regulates marine pollution in the North East Atlantic (from Gibraltar to the Arctic), Denmark, Ireland and other countries are proposing to ban nuclear reprocessing in the region.

The member states of the OSPAR Commission are: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, as well as the European Union. A three quarter majority (12 votes) is required for the proposal to be adopted. Hosted by the Danish government, the meeting will end on Friday June 30.

(3) In 1993, the Contracting Parties to the London Convention, the United Nations treaty that regulates the dumping of wastes at sea, banned the dumping of all radioactive wastes from ships, aircraft, platforms and other man-made structures at sea. However, the agreement does not cover the dumping of radioactive wastes in the sea from a land-based pipeline.