nuclear transports

Nuclear lobby freezes the international environmental group's bank account

The Greenpeace vessel MV Sirius was ordered to leave harbour and French territorial waters, during a peaceful protest against the departure of the British flagged freighter Pacific Teal from the French port of Cherbourg this afternoon.

Escorted by a military armada of naval vessels, commando inflatables,and helicopters, the British-flagged freighter Pacific Teal departed Cherbourg today at 17h00 CET with its cargo of nuclear weapons-usable plutonium fuel (MOX).

London -- The UK Government last night banned the MV Greenpeace from UK waters, a move described as draconian and anti-democratic by the international environmental organisation.

In a letter faxed to the Greenpeace vessel, the UK Government invoked the 1995 Merchant Shipping Act to ban the MV Greenpeace from all United Kingdom waters in the Irish Sea, St George's Channel, the Bristol Channel, and the English Channel, citing safety concerns.

Amid heavy police and naval security, Greenpeace activists protested the departure of the freighter "Pacific Teal" as it left the port of Barrow in north-west England bound for Cherbourg, France early this morning (Monday). This is the initial stage in the first commercial shipment of nuclear weapons-usable plutonium fuel to Japan, and could lead to a further 80 shipments over the next decade.

Global opposition to shipments of nuclear weapons-usable plutonium fuel from Britain and France to Japan will continue in spite of British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. obtaining a wide-ranging court injunction preventing any interference with the transportation of the plutonium, Greenpeace said today.

Greenpeace and other groups in Ireland, Scotland, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, United States, and the Pacific region will take part in an international protest against the plutonium shipments on Monday July 19.

British Nuclear Fuels Ltd is attempting to stifle public debate by seeking injunctions today in the United Kingdom and France to prevent Greenpeace protesting against a secret shipment of nuclear weapons-usable plutonium fuel from Europe to Japan, the environment group reported today.Two British freighters, the Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal, are due to leave the port of Barrow in northern England imminently to undertake the transport to Japan.

The Greenpeace ship SV Rainbow Warrior arrived today in Cherbourg to protest the imminent shipment of weapons-usable plutonium fuel from France to Japan, the first-ever of its kind. Warning that Japan's drive to amass plutonium threatens regional stability and international nuclear disarmament efforts, the international environmental group labelled the imminent shipment a "recipe for disaster" and called on the French, British and Japanese government to cancel the transport.

Greenpeace today called on the British, French and Japanese governments to ban the first shipment of plutonium fuel due to depart imminently from Europe to Japan. The international environmental organisation announced that it is sending its flag ship the "RV Rainbow Warrior" to Cherbourg, France, where part of the deadly cargo is to be loaded.