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Reprocessed nuclear waste shipment to pass by Philippine waters next month, Greenpeace warns
A target symbol projected onto a truck loaded with plutonium MOX fuel being transported from the AREVA reprocessing plant in La Hague to Cherbourg port, where it will be shipped to Japan.
Enlarge ImageAbout 1.8 tons of radiotoxic plutonium in Mixed-Oxide (MOX) fuel intended for nuclear power plants is traveling to Japan via the Cape of Good Hope and the south-west Pacific Ocean. The shipment left France for Japan last March 5 and is expected to pass by the waters between the Philippines and Palau before it reaches Japan by mid May. The shipment potentially violates Republic Act No. 6969 which prohibits the “entry, even in transit, of hazardous and nuclear wastes and their disposal into the Philippine territorial limits for whatever purpose.”
The said MOX transport contains highly radioactive plutonium enough to make 225 nuclear weapons, representing an immediate risk of contamination to coastal communities along the route should anything go wrong.MOX is more dangerous and radioactive than normal uranium fuel because of the presence of plutonium in the mix. The last such shipment to Japan occurred eight years ago. The current transport has forgone passing by South America due to a ban on nuclear transports in the area.
“Greenpeace believes that the MOX shipment is completely unacceptable and unjustifiable, exposing en-route nations such as the Philippines to the risk of accident and resultant radiological contamination.The Philippine government should immediately act to prevent the country from being exposed to such risks, especially since we are not capable of dealing with any related accident that can occur,” said Greenpeace Southeast Asia Campaign Manager Beau Baconguis.
According to Baconguis, the MOX transport is yet another example of the unacceptable risks that nuclear energy creates. Greenpeace is calling for a moratorium on all shipments of nuclear fuel and nuclear waste until a system is in place which ensures the protection of the marine environment and the environment, economy and population of coastal states. Such a system should include prior notification and consultation, environmental impact assessments, a satisfactory liability regime and protection from terrorism attacks.
The most likely route of the MOX shipment is via South Africa and across the Tasman Sea between New Zealand and Australia, and through the coastal waters of South Pacific nations. Other possible routes are via the Caribbean and Panama Canal or via South America and Cape Horn.
In a letter to Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Greenpeace also asserted that the conduct of the transport is lacking in transparency and completely disregards moral obligations of prior informed consent towards other nations with regard to such high risk transports.In a letter to Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Greenpeace also asserted that the conduct of the transport is lacking in transparency and completely disregards moral obligations of prior informed consent towards other nations with regard to such high risk transports.
“The MOX shipment violates the cardinal principles of international law such as the precautionary principle, the rule of the conduct of environmental impact assessments, polluter pays, and the common heritage of mankind. It should not be allowed to sail through as to do so will undermine the normative value of the law,” said international law expert Attorney Harry Roque, who spoke during the press conference.
Note:
The plutonium MOX fuel was produced by French nuclear state company, AREVA for three Japanese electric utilities. Chub Electric, Kyushu Electric and Shikoku Electric are attempting to load MOX fuel into three of the nuclear reactors. Japan’s plans for MOX use, called pluthermal, has failed after more than ten years of effort. The first shipment of MOX to Japan in 1999 ended in a fiasco after the producer, UK state company British Nuclear Fuels, was forced to admit it had deliberately falsified vital quality control safety data. After a 18,000 mile voyage, the MOX fuel was rejected by Japan and shipped back to the UK. Two other cargoes of MOX fuel, one delivered in 1999, the other in 2001, which were due to be loaded into Tokyo Electric’s nuclear reactors were opposed by local citizens and regional governments. Both of these plutonium MOX cargoes remain in storage in Japan with no prospect that they will be used. Japan’s plutonium shipments have been opposed by tens of governments and their citizens since the early 1990’s.
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