Never again - Hiroshima/Nagasaki. Artist Bernard McLeod makes a drawing using charcoal dust on an ice floe off the coast of Greenland near Thule Air Force Base.-July 2001
On the 57th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki today,
Greenpeace today called for urgent progress toward the elimination
of nuclear weapons and an end to the plutonium trade as the most
fitting memorial for the victims of the bombing.
The first ever plutonium bomb, "Fat Man" was dropped on Nagasaki
on August 9th, 1945, following the bombing of Hiroshima on August
6th 1945. Greenpeace International Campaigner, Stephanie Mills said
"The Nagasaki anniversary is a stark reminder of the dangers of
nuclear weapons and the plutonium trade. Tragically, the commercial
plutonium trade is now producing bomb-usable plutonium at a faster
rate than the military, while there are still thousands of nuclear
weapons on high alert targetted at sites around the globe."
The quantity of plutonium used to destroy Nagasaki in 1945, was
6.1 kg. The weapons grade plutonium in the bomb had an explosive
force of around 20 kilotonnes (20,000 tonnes of TNT equivalent).
With reactor grade plutonium similar to that in plutonium mixed
oxide (MOX) fuel, the explosive force would be around 3.5
kilotonnes (3,500 tonnes of TNT equivalent). This size of nuclear
explosion still represents a very terrifying nuclear weapon capable
of destroying a major city centre.
"It is a tragic irony that Japan, which experienced the utter
devastation and lingering impacts of atomic weapons, is now
involved in the plutonium trade, which creates enormous
proliferation and environmental risks, " Ms Mills said. "Japan's
stockpile of weapons-usable plutonium is set to exceed 110 metric
tonnes by the 2020 - enough for thousands of nuclear bombs."
Concern about Japan's plutonium program has been heightened not
only due to recent statements about reconsideration of nuclear
weapons policy but also because of a current shipment of faulty MOX
from Japan back to the manufacturer, British Nuclear Fuels
(BNFL).
The rejected MOX, which contains 255kg of weapons usable
plutonium, was originally destined for nuclear reactors in Japan.
However after it was discovered that BNFL had deliberately
falsified the safety data it was rejected and the Japanese utility
and Government demanded its controversial return to the UK. The
nuclear cargo, aboard the "Pacific Pintail", has been dogged by
protest and opposition from governments and citizens en route,
including a "Nuclear Free Seas" flotilla of small yachts in the
Tasman Sea. The shipment is expected to pass South Africa around
August 17th, just two weeks before the World Summit on Sustainable
Development meets in Johannesburg.
"The nuclear industry is dirty, dangerous and uneconomic, " Ms
Mills stated. "There are sustainable alternatives, which do not put
millions of people and their environment at unnecessary risk. The
trade in plutonium only increases the quantity and risks of this
manmade substance, which is alien to our environment, has a
lifespan of more the 24,000 years and is the most radio-toxic
substance known. The plutonium trade is gamble the world just
cannot afford to take."
"The Japanese and UK Governments are failing to listen to the
opposition within their countries to their plutonium and nuclear
programmes. They are missing a huge opportunity by investing in
plutonium instead of clean, affordable, modern and legitimate
energy," said Mills.