PLUTONIUM TRANSPORT LEAVES FRANCE FOR JAPAN

19 January 2001

Cherbourg, France - The armed British freighter the Pacific Pintail left the French port of Cherbourg at 17:00 CET, laden with its deadly cargo of plutonium/MOX fuel bound for Japan.

It will rendezvous with its escort ship the armed nuclear freighter Pacific Teal off the coast of France near the Channel Islands and then head west-south-west towards the coastal waters of northern Spain and Portugal.

The plutonium companies responsible for the transport plan to announce the route tomorrow.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Shaun Burnie - Cherbourg - +31 629 00 11 33
- Mike Townsley - Amsterdam - +31 621 296 918
- Damon Moglen - Washington DC - +1 202 319 2409
- Kazue Suzuki - Tokyo - +81 90 2249 1502

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

Video and stills of this mornings Greenpeace action at Cherbourg are available from: Footage (+31 20 52 49 543) and stills (+31 20 52 49 580)