Greenpeace - Stop Plutonium
Greenpeace today charged that a French plutonium fuel production facility located in Dessel, Belgium is operating in violation of Belgian law. The international environment group has charged that the plutonium fuel for the imminent France/Japan shipment has been produced under illegal circumstances. Greenpeace has today filed legal papers with the Belgian Supreme Court to request nullification of the operating license, and called on the new Belgium Government to immediately shut the FBFC International "5M" plant. FBFC is wholly owned by Cogema and Framatome.
The Greenpeace charges pertain to the plutonium MOX assembly plant operated by Franco Belge de Fabrication de Combustible (FBFC) International. The plant, known as "5M", has been operated since 1997, and is owned by the French companies COGEMA and Framatome. The specific charges are that the operators, FBFC, constructed a new plutonium fuel assembly plant, in "manifest violation" of Article's 12 of Belgium law (Royal Decree), and a misuse of Article 13. These articles, which regulate the construction of `new' facilities, required that FBFC conduct a public enquiry prior to constructing the plutonium fuel assembly plant.
