Greenpeace wants Irish navy in nuclear protest
Date: 30-Aug-02
Country: IRELAND
Author: Michael Roddy
The measure would be largely symbolic, since the cargo ships can still reach Britain, but would send a powerful message, the group said.
"The Irish government, if it made a loud enough noise, could stop this shipment entering their waters," Greenpeace anti-nuclear coordinator Shaun Burnie said aboard its flagship Rainbow Warrior, docked in Dublin since Tuesday.
The group suggested the ban be extended beyond the 12-mile territorial waters to the 25-mile "economic exclusion zone".
Environment Minister Martin Cullen said he shared Greenpeace's concern about nuclear fuel shipments and said the timing of its arrival, close to the anniversary of the U.S. September 11 hijack attacks, "does not enhance confidence".
He said he would discuss the issue with Greenpeace, other European countries like Norway and Iceland which share Ireland's concerns and would raise it at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg.
Two lightly armed ships carrying the cargo of potentially weapons-usable MOX fuel, combining uranium and plutonium, are nearing the final leg of a two-month-long voyage from Japan to Sellafield.
The Sellafield plant, 110 miles (180 km) across the Irish Sea, has become a major bone of contention between Ireland, which says it pollutes the sea and poses a threat of terrorist attack, and Britain, which has invested billions in it.
Greenpeace has been monitoring the shipment since it left Japan in early July and has helped drum up protests from 80 countries along the route in a campaign to force an end to nuclear transport by sea.
FROM JAPAN TO ENGLAND
The group argues that despite assurances that the cargo is safely contained, any release has the potential to kill thousands of people and cause irreparable environmental damage.
The fuel is being returned to state-owned BNFL after Japan's Kansai Electric Power Co Inc discovered that data for a 1999 shipment from Britain had been deliberately falsified.
Burnie said a 10-boat "Nuclear-Free Seas Flotilla 2002", plus the Rainbow Warrior, would sail to meet and monitor the cargo ships in a peaceful protest.
"The transport is going to make it to Sellafield, barring accidents or terrorist attack," Burnie said. "Greenpeace will not be interfering with the safe navigation of the ships. We just won't be doing that.
"Our role with the Rainbow Warrior is to support the peace flotilla that will be operating in the Irish Sea in protest against the ships."
He said the Irish navy could provide powerful support.
"A physical presence of the Irish navy on the Irish Sea would be a physical presence that would send a very strong message," he said.
BNFL has insisted the shipment was safe from terrorists or environmental catastrophe.
