Plutonium cat and mouse as ships move towards west coast of Ireland and Scotland

14 September, 2002

Holyhead, UNITED KINGDOM - In what is turning into a global game of cat and mouse with nuclear bomb material, Greenpeace today warned that a Japanese plutonium shipment bound for Sellafield could be heading for the west of Ireland and Scotland.

As of Thursday 1300hrs, the two armed vessels, Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal, were on course that would take them along the west coast of Ireland entering the Irish Sea from the north, between Scotland and Northern Ireland. The western route may be chosen by British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) and the UK Government to try and avoid planned protests from the Nuclear Free Irish Sea Flotilla. The Flotilla is currently gathering at Holyhead in North Wales and could depart later today. Greenpeace hopes to confirm the specific route by the nuclear ships by end of day Saturday.

Yesterday the Nuclear Free Irish Sea Flotilla left from ports around the Irish Sea to meet up off Holyhead in North Wales in advance of the nuclear transport. More than 20 boats in addition to the Greenpeace flagship, Rainbow Warrior, are due to move out into the Irish Sea to protest against the cargo of rejected plutonium MOX fuel. The Pacific Pintail with its cargo of 255 kilograms of plutonium, as well as its escort ship, the Pacific Teal, are currently to the west of Portugal heading north. They left Japan on July 4th since when they have been condemned by 80 Governments around the world. The main concerns are that the ships are vulnerable to catastrophic accident or terrorist attack, which could lead to large-scale contamination of the marine environment and coastal communities.

If these ships do not enter the Irish Sea from the south it will be a huge victory for the flotilla movement and the people who have already sailed hundreds of miles to be here. It is also a signal that the strong opposition from the Republic of Ireland at all levels has had an effect. However, it means that the people of the West and Northern Ireland and West and South of Scotland are now in the firing line for a plutonium shipment that would devastate their environment if there was an accident. Are BNFL seriously going to ignite such a political bonfire? said Paul Barrett, skipper of the yacht Tuscair.

The rejected plutonium MOX fuel on board the Pintail was only shipped to Japan from Sellafield in 1999. However it was rejected by its Japanese owners after BNFL were forced to admit that they had deliberately falsified vital safety data for the fuel. Forced to accept its return, the UK Government agreed that BNFL would pay over 110 million pounds sterling in compensation to Japan and to cover the cost transportation. BNFL is a state owned company, and therefore the money paid was from the UK taxpayers. BNFL declared late last year that they were bankrupt. In the last week, its largest customer British Energy has also stopped trading on the stock exchange after it was declared to be near insolvency.

The UK Government agreed to the return transport, despite knowing how strongly opposed it would be from en-route countries, after assurances from BNFL that it would lead to renew business with Japan. In particular BNFL was hoping to secure new large plutonium MOX contracts with Japan after this shipment s return. However, in the last three years there has been growing opposition to Japan's controversial plans to use weapons-usable plutonium in its nuclear reactors. Two weeks ago plans to move ahead with their plutonium MOX program were frozen by the country s largest nuclear company, Tokyo Electric following disclosures of cover-up and falsification in its nuclear reactor program. In the last days it has been confirmed that construction plans for six new nuclear reactors, totally over 6GigaWatts of electrical capacity has been cancelled by Tokyo Electric, a further sign that the nuclear program is under severe threat.

The Irish Government, backed by all opposition parties has condemned the imminent arrival of the plutonium shipment. Following meetings of its Emergencies Committee, the Government in Dublin agreed to deploy naval vessels and aircraft to track the shipment and to ensure that it did not enter Irish waters. There is no information that either the Northern Ireland Assembly or the Scottish Parliament and Executive have been notified that the nuclear shipment could pass less than 10 miles from their coasts and population.

There needs to be urgent clarification as to what route this shipment is taking. The Irish Government was right to convene its Emergencies Committee to consider all options for this shipment. They were also right to condemn this shipment, along with 79 other Governments around the world, to call for an end to future shipments. "Silence from Belfast and Edinburgh is not an option on this issue. If the threat from these shipments and BNFL's trade in bomb material is to stop, now is the time for them to be condemned," said Shaun Burnie, Greenpeace International Nuclear Campaigner on board the Rainbow Warrior.

The Greenpeace flagship the SV Rainbow Warrior joins The Nuclear Free Irish Sea Flotilla. The flotilla is a grouping of individual Irish and British sailors concerned about the transportation of plutonium mox fuel through the Irish Sea.

Contact Information:

On board the Rainbow Warrior
Shaun Burnie, Greenpeace International Nuclear Campaigner, +31 629 001 133
Mhairi Dunlop, Greenpeace International Nuclear Press Officer, +31 653 504 731

Rainbow Warrior cellphone, +31 653 464 289
Rainbow Warrior Inmarsat A, +871 130 2412

Paul Barrett, Skipper of the yacht Tuscair, Iridium phone, +88 162 141 6154
Kay Lynch, Nuclear Free Irish Sea Flotilla, +353 868 750 827

Library photographs and video of the Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal leaving Barrow-in-Furness, England and the Pacific Pintail loading the cask of rejected plutonium fuel in Takahama, Japan are available from
Photo Desk, Daniel Beltra, +31 653 819 255
Video Desk, Lucy Clayton, +31 653 504 721

Notes to Editor:

A map of both possible routes can be found here.

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