Port Vila Presse Online Vanuatu News :: Nuclear ship arrives in Japan
Port Vila Presse Online Vanuatu News :: Nuclear ship arrives in Japan: "Nuclear ship arrives in Japan
Posted Thursday, April 21, 2005
The PNTL Pacific Sandpiper docks in Mutsu-Ogawara, Japan �2005 Kiyohiko Yamada
A ship that carried high level nuclear waste through the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of several Pacific Island countries, has reached its destination, the port of Mutsu-Ogawara, in Japan. It was greeted with protests from Japanese activists opposing the transport.
Pacific Island governments and NGOs such as the Pacific Concerns Resource Center, Greenpeace, the World Council of Churches and the Pacific Conference of Churches opposed the transit of the waste through Pacific waters.
The Pacific Island Forum’s Secretary General, Greg Urwin, expressed concern on the ship’s presence in the Pacific saying, “we have a real worry about possible economic loss in the event of an incident involving a nuclear shipment, whether or not that incident results in a radioactive release. The fragile economies of Forum Island Countries depend heavily on industries involving our ocean, such as fisheries and tourism”.
Greenpeace spokesperson, Tiy Chung, warned that the Pacific would become a “nuclear highway” if Pacific governments did not act now to stop future shipments entering their waters. “The Pacific is currently the path of least resistance for these shipping nations,” he said. “The shipping states did not bother providing governments with the exact location of the shipment, they have not done an environmental impact assessment in case of a nuclear mishap and they refuse to negotiate a comprehensive and unlimited compensation and liability regime should such an accident occur.”
The shipment, which is only the tenth of such shipments ever undertaken, was transported by a Pacific Nuclear Transport Ltd (PNTL) ship, the Pacific Sandpiper. British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. (BNFL) is the majority shareholder of PNTL with the remaining interests held by French and Japanese utilities. In France, the waste was processed by the state-owned nuclear company Areva, which made the surprise announcement about the shipment on February 16.
Atsuko Nogawa, nuclear campaigner from Greenpeace Japan warned the Japanese government and other shipping countries that “carrying about 60,000 KG of deadly waste half way across the planet will put millions of people at risk. Countries involved in this shipment must seek a way to halt any nuclear transport.”
This waste is among the most radioactive material ever produced -- the glass blocks are in fact so radioactive that a person standing within one meter of an unshielded block would receive a lethal dose of radiation in less than one minute. If released into the environment, the waste would be a deadly environmental pollutant for hundreds of thousands of years. The release of even a small fraction of this cargo from either an accident or a deliberate attack could lead to an environmental and public health catastrophe.
**Contacts:* *
Communications Officer: Tiy Chung, Greenpeace Australia Pacific: +679 3312 861 or +679 992 6230
Nuclear Campaigner: Atsuko Nogawa, Greenpeace Japan: +81- 80-5088-3048
"
Posted Thursday, April 21, 2005
The PNTL Pacific Sandpiper docks in Mutsu-Ogawara, Japan �2005 Kiyohiko Yamada
A ship that carried high level nuclear waste through the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of several Pacific Island countries, has reached its destination, the port of Mutsu-Ogawara, in Japan. It was greeted with protests from Japanese activists opposing the transport.
Pacific Island governments and NGOs such as the Pacific Concerns Resource Center, Greenpeace, the World Council of Churches and the Pacific Conference of Churches opposed the transit of the waste through Pacific waters.
The Pacific Island Forum’s Secretary General, Greg Urwin, expressed concern on the ship’s presence in the Pacific saying, “we have a real worry about possible economic loss in the event of an incident involving a nuclear shipment, whether or not that incident results in a radioactive release. The fragile economies of Forum Island Countries depend heavily on industries involving our ocean, such as fisheries and tourism”.
Greenpeace spokesperson, Tiy Chung, warned that the Pacific would become a “nuclear highway” if Pacific governments did not act now to stop future shipments entering their waters. “The Pacific is currently the path of least resistance for these shipping nations,” he said. “The shipping states did not bother providing governments with the exact location of the shipment, they have not done an environmental impact assessment in case of a nuclear mishap and they refuse to negotiate a comprehensive and unlimited compensation and liability regime should such an accident occur.”
The shipment, which is only the tenth of such shipments ever undertaken, was transported by a Pacific Nuclear Transport Ltd (PNTL) ship, the Pacific Sandpiper. British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. (BNFL) is the majority shareholder of PNTL with the remaining interests held by French and Japanese utilities. In France, the waste was processed by the state-owned nuclear company Areva, which made the surprise announcement about the shipment on February 16.
Atsuko Nogawa, nuclear campaigner from Greenpeace Japan warned the Japanese government and other shipping countries that “carrying about 60,000 KG of deadly waste half way across the planet will put millions of people at risk. Countries involved in this shipment must seek a way to halt any nuclear transport.”
This waste is among the most radioactive material ever produced -- the glass blocks are in fact so radioactive that a person standing within one meter of an unshielded block would receive a lethal dose of radiation in less than one minute. If released into the environment, the waste would be a deadly environmental pollutant for hundreds of thousands of years. The release of even a small fraction of this cargo from either an accident or a deliberate attack could lead to an environmental and public health catastrophe.
**Contacts:* *
Communications Officer: Tiy Chung, Greenpeace Australia Pacific: +679 3312 861 or +679 992 6230
Nuclear Campaigner: Atsuko Nogawa, Greenpeace Japan: +81- 80-5088-3048
"
posted by Greta Jane at Friday, April 22, 2005
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