IMMINENT THREAT FROM JAPANESE PLUTONIUM TRANSPORT – PERFECT TERRORIST TARGET

27 February 2002

London - The countdown to one of the most controversial nuclear transports in history has begun today, Greenpeace warned, with the approval by the Bush Administration for the return of plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel from Japan to the UK in the next few months.

British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) originally shipped the plutonium to Japan in 1999, but it was rejected after it was revealed that vital quality control data had been deliberately falsified during the fuel’s manufacture (1). The owners of the fuel, Kansai Electric, and the Japanese government demanded that the UK government and BNFL agree to the return of the fuel to the UK as soon as possible. It has taken nearly two years to negotiate the details of the return, including financial arrangements.

Under the terms of the United States/Japan Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, all plutonium transports between Europe and Japan (and vice versa) require US Administration approval. In August 2001, the Japanese government submitted a transport plan to the Bush Administration. As of February 27th, approval of the plan by the US Department of State enters into force.

Greenpeace believes the Bush administration was heavily lobbied by the Japanese and British governments and industry in recent weeks to approve the shipment. If the shipment goes ahead, Japanese Nuclear utilities and BNFL are likely to sign new contracts for fuel production that would result in up to 40 shipments over the next decade from Europe to Japan.

An armed escort will be required for the shipment as the plutonium in the MOX fuel is weapons-usable material. This particular shipment will contain sufficient plutonium to make more than 50 nuclear weapons and therefore poses environmental, security and proliferation risks during its global transport through the world’s oceans. The vessels used to carry plutonium MOX are armed with three 30mm cannons, as well as anti-terrorist police from the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary (UKAEAC)(2).

“Playing global ping pong with weapons-usable plutonium made no sense before September 11th and now it is sheer madness. The Blair, Bush and Koizumi governments must now take responsibility for creating a floating terrorist target. The MOX fuel should never have been shipped to Japan in the first place. Now it is there, that is where it should remain. There are no zero risk options when it comes to plutonium but secure storage in Japan is the least bad option,” said Shaun Burnie of Greenpeace International.

The Japanese government recently confirmed that three principal routes between Japan and Europe remain options for this shipment (3). All countries en-route in Latin and Central America, in the Caribbean, East Asia, the South Pacific and Australasia are now threatened by the shipment. Citing safety and security concerns, the en-route countries have previously demanded that nuclear shipments must not enter their coastal waters, including their 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

“This shipment of plutonium is certainly a humiliation for British Nuclear Fuels and the British government, but it could be catastrophic for the many countries and millions of people along the route from Japan. These at-risk states have called for prior consultation and the resolution of urgent safety, security and liability issues for these shipments but so far the shipping states have utterly failed to satisfy these demands. BNFL for years deliberately deceived its most loyal and important customers in Japan, so any assurance from them that the transport will be made safely and securely should be treated with the contempt it deserves. Greenpeace is vociferously opposed to this shipment,” said Damon Moglen of Greenpeace International.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Shaun Burnie, Greenpeace International, in the UK: 01557 814 288
Damon Moglen, Greenpeace International, in Washington D.C.: +1 202 319 2409
Kazue Suzuki, Greenpeace Japan, in Tokyo: +81 3 5338 9809
Mhairi Dunlop, Greenpeace International Nuclear Press Officer, in Amsterdam: +31 20 523 6608

Photographs and video of the original shipment to Japan are available from Greenpeace Communications
John Novis, Picture Editor: +31 (0)653 819121
Lucy Clayton, Assistant Video producer: +31 (0)20 5249 509

1. The BNFL MOX falsification scandal started with disclosures in the UK Independent newspaper in September 1999. For the next three months, BNFL denied that the falsification of quality control data concerned the MOX fuel recently delivered to the Takahama-4 nuclear reactor in Fukui Prefecture in Japan. However, a legal challenge by two Japanese NGO’s, Green Action and Mihama-no Kai and supported by Greenpeace, forced BNFL to finally admit that the fuel contained falsified data. In the months that followed, it was revealed that BNFL had falsified MOX fuel for all of its customers (Swiss and German utilities) over a period of at least five years. Greenpeace analysis has argued that the deliberate falsification was due to fundamental problems with MOX fuel technology, producing fuel of low quality that increases further the risk of nuclear accident if used in a reactor. The UK government’s investigation into BNFL’s MOX scandal failed to identify the motives for the falsification.

2. The transport plan is currently confidential, but Greenpeace believes that two British-flagged vessels, the Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal will be used for the shipment. Both ships, owned by Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited (PNTL), returned last week to their home port of Barrow-in-Furness after completing sea trials believed to have taken place in the Irish Sea and off the west coast of Scotland.

3. The three principle routes under consideration are: via the Panama Canal and Caribbean Sea; via the South Pacific, Tasman Sea and Cape of Good Hope (South Africa); and via South America and Cape Horn.