Tokyo - Kansai Electric Power Company has announced that an
imminent shipment of unsafe plutonium will not receive any
additional security measures despite warnings that the shipment
poses a major terrorist risk. Moreover, the Japanese utility is
considering loading the plutonium onto the ships only sixty miles
from the nearest soccer venue during the latter stages of the 2002
FIFA World Cup (1).
In contrast to this approach of Kansai Electric, Japan Nuclear
Fuels Limited (JNFL) recently announced that due to the additional
security demands of the World Cup, they have suspended all nuclear
waste transports to the Rokkasho-mura complex in Aomori Prefecture,
northern Japan until after the World Cup final on June 30th. JNFL
made the decision after discovering that police from Aomori would
be relocated to provide support to soccer matches (2).
In April 2002 Greenpeace warned the Japan World Cup Organizing
Committee in Tokyo and FIFA officials in Zurich that the plutonium
mixed oxide (MOX) shipment posed a major security risk (3). The two
armed British-flagged vessels, the Pacific Pintail and Pacific
Teal, are expected to arrive in Japan within the next week, and
could depart as early as one week before the World Cup final on
June 30th.
"If domestic nuclear waste shipments have been suspended because
of World Cup security demands on local police, it is incredible
that the British and Japanese nuclear industries are still planning
to make a shipment of dangerous plutonium during the competition.
They are showing absolute disregard for the security and safety of
people in Japan and Korea, including hundreds of thousands of World
Cup soccer fans," said Shaun Burnie of Greenpeace
International.
In recent weeks there have been demands by U.S. politicians to
suspend plutonium transports inside the U.S. due to warnings from
the Bush Administration that renewed attacks by Al Queda were
possible (4).
"The schedule for this shipment is being determined by the
commercial considerations of British Nuclear Fuels and the Japanese
nuclear industry not security or safety criteria. They want it out
of Japan as soon as possible so they can resume plans for their
defunct program - in the process they are prepared to ignore real
security issues with potentially horrific consequences," Burnie
added.
Notes: (1) Kansai stated that no further security measures would be applied to the shipment at a meeting between Kansai Electric Energy Public Relations and NGOs Green Action and Mihama-no Kai held on June 4th, at Kansai Electric headquarters, Osaka. At a prior meeting on April 11th Kansai refused to rule out departure of the shipment during World Cup. (2) Daily Tohoku May 31st 2002 (3) Greenpeace sent letters to Mr. Yasuhiko Endoh, General Secretary of JAWOC, (Japan Organizing Committee for the FIFA World Cup), Joseph S. Blatter President of FIFA and Lennart Johansson as chairman of the World Cup Organising Committee, as well as Akira Odajima, Public Relations Director FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan Organizing Committee. Fifa replied to Greenpeace on April 22nd stating that the MOX transport issue was being considered by the Director for Stadiums and Security, Walter Gregg. (4) See Greenville News, May 20, 2002 "Hodges, citing terror warning, urges delay on bomb material shipments", James T. Hammond. Governor Jim Hodges of South Carolina warned the U.S. Government that the latest terrorist warnings by Vice President Dick Cheney and FBI Director Robert Mueller are reason enough to delay shipping weapons-grade plutonium to South Carolina from Colorado.