DUTCH NUCLEAR TRANSPORT ARRIVES AT LA HAGUE AS PLUTONIUM/MOX PREPARES FOR DEPARTURE TO JAPAN

18 January 2001

La Hague/Cherbourg - As preparations for tomorrow’s transport of plutonium/MOX from France to Japan are being finalised, the scandal of nuclear waste reprocessing at la Hague plant continues (1). Later today, a train carrying spent nuclear fuel from the Netherlands will arrive at Cogema’s Valognes rail depot.

One cask of highly radioactive spent fuel left the Borselle nuclear power plant yesterday following protests from Greenpeace Netherlands and Greenpeace Belgium. Spent fuel from Borselle has been transported to, and reprocessed, at la Hague since 1978. Despite this, not one gram of plutonium extracted during reprocessing has been 'recycled' in Dutch nuclear reactors, nor are there any plans to do so, in stark contrast to Cogema’s claim that their business is the ‘recycling of nuclear material’.

As a result of the reprocessing of foreign and domestic spent nuclear fuel, Cogema has created the world's largest stockpile of weapons-usable plutonium, over 72,000kg as of the end of 1999, most of which is still at la Hague. Thirty-thousand kilograms belong to non-French client countries, including the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland, the rest is owned by Electricite de France, EdF.

"In reality Cogema's reprocessing is about nuclear waste dumping, resulting in widespread radioactive contamination, the production of even more nuclear waste and the isolation of nuclear weapons- usable plutonium, not recycling. This latest foreign transport of nuclear waste exposes the madness of the nuclear industry and reprocessing, it is high time it was stopped," said Jean-luc Thierry of Greenpeace France.

A shipment of Japanese plutonium/MOX fuel, containing around 230kg of plutonium, is to leave the French port of Cherbourg under heavy military security tomorrow, Friday. The cargo will be carried onboard the British freighters Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal.

Over 2000kg of plutonium has been shipped from la Hague to Japan since 1985, yet, as in the case of the Netherlands, not one gram has been used in a Japanese nuclear reactor. Approximately 27,000kg of plutonium belonging to Japan remains stockpiled at la Hague.

"To put the scale of the la Hague plutonium mountain in perspective, each year since the mid-1990's Cogema has increased the world's stockpile by 16,000kg, enough for 2000 nuclear weapons or five time more than then number of nuclear weapons in the 'Force de Frappe', France’s nuclear weapons arsenal. The Netherlands and Japan, like all of Cogema's clients, are complicit in this plutonium nightmare," said Shaun Burnie of Greenpeace International.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Jean-luc Thierry - Greenpeace France +33 (0) 6 1591 0237 (mobile)
- Shaun Burnie - Greenpeace International - in Cherbourg +31 6 2900 1133

Briefings on the plutonium MOX issue are available at www.greenpeace.org/~nuclear/transport/mox00

Video and still photographs of protests against the Japanese plutonium
transport and Dutch nuclear transport are available from: Footage (+31 20 52 49 543) and stills (+31 20 52 49 580).

(1) In a press statement yesterday Cogema announced the timing of the plutonium/Mox shipment departure. It "is scheduled to leave Europe on January 19th 2001." The Cogema press statement further reports that: "The route and approximate timing of arrival in Japan will be released one day after departure from Europe." www.cogemalahague.com