London - As Japanese and UK Foreign Ministers meet in London
today, Greenpeace calls on the UK Government to end its continued
support for Japan's plutonium programme and to cancel an imminent
plutonium shipment from Japan.
Launching a campaign to stop the shipment from on board its new
ship, MV Esperanza, the international environmental organisation
said the ship would sail to Japan later today to oppose the
shipment (1).
On Friday, two armed British freighters left the UK bound for
Japan to pick up a cargo of rejected plutonium MOX assemblies and
to return them to the UK. After it was discovered that British
Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) had deliberately falsified quality control
data during the assemblies' manufacture, Japan demanded the return
of the material as a pre-condition for new plutonium MOX contracts.
BNFL and the UK Government hope that the return shipment from Japan
in June, which includes 255 kilograms of plutonium, enough
plutonium for 50 nuclear bombs, will result in contracts to ship
more than 25,000 kilograms of plutonium to Japan over the next
decade. As little as five kilograms of this plutonium could build
one advanced nuclear weapon. Only three weeks ago, a senior
Japanese politician, Ichiro Ozawa, stated that Japan could make
thousands of nuclear weapons using its plutonium.
"A massive expansion of Japan's plutonium programme pivots on
this proposed shipment of reject material back to the UK,"
Greenpeace International Nuclear Campaigner Shaun Burnie said. "We
call on Mr Straw to cancel this shipment and end the Government's
continued support for Japan´s plutonium program, instead of
continuing to disregard the dangers of a Japan with nuclear weapons
capability and the creation of further instability in North and
East Asia."
To underline its concerns, Greenpeace will today deliver a mock
missile to the Japanese Foreign Minister Ms Yoriko Kawaguchi, and
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, bearing the message "Plutonium =
Bombs" (2). Last Friday, Greenpeace announced it was considering
legal action to stop the return shipment because it would breach UK
and international law.
"If this shipment proceeds, the UK and Japan will be creating a
floating terrorist target and a huge danger to the health and
security of millions of people globally. The UK is seeking to
secure meagre profits from plutonium MOX sales at the risk of a
nuclear arms race in Asia. This shipment needs to be stopped and we
will do all we can to peacefully prevent it happening," Mr Burnie
said.
The route of the June shipment from Japan to the UK remains
secret but Japanese officials have confirmed it will be one of
three options: - via the Pacific, Panama Canal, Caribbean, Atlantic
Ocean and Irish Sea - via the Pacific, Cape Horn, Atlantic Ocean
and Irish Sea - via the Pacific, Tasman Sea, Cape of Good Hope,
Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea.
Mr Burnie said that if Greenpeace's legal and campaigning work
and the efforts of Governments around the world failed to stop the
shipment leaving Japan, Greenpeace would use its ship and other
resources to "sound the alert" on this shipment.
"The UK and Japan arrogantly refuse to warn countries en route
in advance, or to consult them on the environmental and security
risks. We believe millions of people around the world have a right
to know of the dangers they are being exposed to because of the
arrogance and incompetence of the nuclear industry," Mr Burnie
said.
Notes: (1) Greenpeace will hold a breakfast press conference to announce its plans to oppose the proposed Japanese plutonium shipment to the UK on board its new vessel, the MV Esperanza, on Monday April 29th at 0800 hours at BUTLERS WHARF PIER, adjacent to the Pont de la Tour´ restaurant on the southside of Tower Bridge. Access is from Horselydown Lane, Southwark SE1. (2) The mock missile will be delivered to the Foreign Office on Monday 29th April. There will be a photo opportunity outside the Foreign Office at 10.45am.