Greenpeace has called on the Government to deploy naval vessels to prevent a controversial shipment of mixed oxide (MOX) fuel from entering Irish waters on its way to the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in Cumbria.
The group says the shipment - due in the Irish Sea in a matter of weeks - should be prevented from passing the 15 mile Irish territorial waters boundary, as well as entering the 25 mile Exclusive Economic zone.
|
|
The Rainbow Warrior. Photo: courtesy of Greeenpeace
|
"There is not just an environmental risk," Mr John Bowler of Greenpeace International said. "These ships are also armed". He was speaking on Dublin's St John Rogerson's Quay where the group's boat the
Rainbow Warrior
is docked in advance of protests over the MOX shipment.
Speaking on board the boat later, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources Mr Dermot Ahern said "everything that can be done, will be done."
"The British Authorities have assured us that shipments will not be going through the jurisdiction".
Mr Ahern confirmed that this jurisdiction applied to only twelve miles of territorial water off the Irish coastline, and not the 25 mile exclusion zone indicated by Greenpeace.
"It’s not just a simple matter of sending boats out," he added.
It is claimed the two ships - Pacific Pintailand Pacific Teal- are carrying enough plutonium to make 50 nuclear bombs, although British Nuclear Fuels contests this. The exact location of the vessels is not known, but they are expected to enter European waters from Japan in the first week of September and will approach Ireland between the 8th and 17th.
Japanese authorities demanded the waste be shipped back to Sellafield after it arrived in their waters in 1999 amid the revelation safety records at Sellafield had been falsified.
"The risks inherent in the transport of MOX fuel must be minimised by the application of the highest standards," said the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Martin Cullen.
He said that he intends to meet with the UK Government at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg to further highlight Irish views on Sellafield.
"Many other countries share our concerns regarding the safety of nuclear fuel and the dangers associated with the waste it creates," Mr Cullen said.
Greenpeace said a protest strategy would be finalised when more details on the location of the nuclear vessels was revealed. Their intention is to create a peaceful protest involving the Rainbow Warrior, along with a flotilla of Irish boats.
"The physical presence of the naval service would send out a very strong message," said Mr Shaun Burnie of Greenpeace International.
If there was a nuclear leak from the ships in Irish waters, it is estimated by Greenpeace officials that billions of microns would be released into the Irish atmosphere, with cancerous effects that could last for decades.
It is thought that people in surrounding areas of any contamination, could not evacuate quick enough and "there would be mass contamination," said Mr Burnie. "It is not clear whether any government can decontaminate".