The departure of the two armed British nuclear freighters, due
to cross the Atlantic to collect a cargo of weapons-grade plutonium
from the U.S. military port at Charleston, South Carolina, is
imminent, Greenpeace has been informed. The ships are being loaded
today with provisions, ammunition and armed security personnel in
preparation to leave the English port of Barrow-in-Furness.
The plutonium has been designated surplus to the U.S. nuclear
weapons program and is to be manufactured into experimental nuclear
reactor fuel, or Plutonium MOX (mixed uranium plutonium), at French
facilities operated by Areva/Cogema. The plutonium fuel will then
be returned to the U.S. for testing at the Catawba nuclear reactor
in South Carolina later next year.
"International non-proliferation policy addressing plutonium has
been hi-jacked by the commercial industry, which aims to fleece the
taxpayer for the coming decades into paying for a dangerous,
expensive and wholly unnecessary plutonium fuel program," said Tom
Clements of Greenpeace International in Washington, D.C. "It's a
tragic irony that this shipment has brought Blair, Bush and Chirac
together; all three are proving that they are lapdogs of the
plutonium proliferation industry."
Greenpeace has been lobbying for ten years to have all plutonium
treated as nuclear waste not as potential reactor fuel. This
approach would be cheaper, faster, safer, and more secure.
"Once again, BNFL backed by the UK Government are preparing to
increase the risk to international security and the environment by
shipping plutonium across the ocean. There is no justification for
this transport as the whole policy of using weapons plutonium in
reactors is dangerously misguided," said Shaun Burnie of Greenpeace
International.
The Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal, carry a complement of 13
armed anti-terrorist police, as well as three 30mm cannons. In
contrast to this low-level security, previous plutonium shipments
have involved naval vessels from the U.S., France and the U.K., as
well as U.S. marines. The ships will carry around 140 kilograms of
plutonium, sufficient for 25-40 nuclear weapons.
Last week, the U.S Department of Energy was challenged by
members of Congress on key security aspects of the planned
transport. Concerns centred on the low level of security for the
sea shipment (no dedicated armed military vessels) as well as the
vulnerability of the plutonium to terrorist attack in France where
security is poor (1).
Greenpeace has recently met with members of the U.S. Government
Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative branch of Congress,
to discuss the shipment and share a video that exposes the lack of
security measures provided for previous transports of plutonium in
France. The weapons-grade plutonium will be carried in containers
that would not withstand an attack by a rocket-propelled grenade
(2). Once in France, the nuclear material will be transported 1,000
km south of the country in lightly guarded trucks that could also
be subject to attack or theft.
Notes: (1) Rep. Turner letter questioning security of plutonium shipment - See "Is Plutonium Shipment Secure?" at http://www.house.gov/hsc/democrats/; Rep. Markey letters on plutonium shipment http://www.house.gov/markey/nucweaponssec.htm#france (2) French Government document on vulnerability of FS-47 plutonium containers to attack by RPGs, see page 8 http://www.irsn.fr/net- science/liblocal/docs/docs_DEND/frenchapproach.pdf