From: Greenpeace via Jym Dyer <jym@mica.berkeley.edu>
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive,alt.activism,sci.environment,talk.environment
Subject: NEWS: Plutonium Ship to be Followed
Followup-To: alt.activism.d,sci.environment,talk.environment
Date: 16 Oct 1992 23:25:09 GMT
Organization: The Naughty Peahen Party Line
NNTP-Posting-Host: remarque.berkeley.edu

[Greenpeace Press Release from Environet -- Redistribute Freely]

       GREENPEACE ANNOUNCES PLAN TO FOLLOW PLUTONIUM SHIP

PARIS, October 7, 1992  (GP) -- Greenpeace announced today that
it will attempt to follow the forthcoming plutonium shipment from
France to Japan in order to warn the nations along the ship's
still secret transport route.

The announcement precedes the expected arrival in France of the
Japanese freighter, "Akatsuki Maru", which will pick up the first
of what could be as many as 45 one-tonne shipments of deadly
plutonium.

Despite the enormous human health and environmental threats the
shipment of plutonium poses, France and Japan will not
release any information about the route the ship will take
back to Japan nor possible emergency plans in case of
accidents.

"The nations along the plutonium ship's route have a sovereign
right, and responsibility, to protect the environment and
public health," said Greenpeace spokesman Damon Moglen.

"If Japan and France continue their silence in the face of
growing public concern and protest, Greenpeace will take all
measures to track the plutonium freighter in order to forewarn
the countries which lie along the path of this extremely
dangerous shipment."

[Text lost in transmission] . . . red, plutonium could be released to
the environment and would remain a deadly contaminant for tens of
thousands of years.

This 1.7 tonne shipment, and each of those which will follow,
will provide enough plutonium to construct over 120 nuclear
weapons.  Citing the allure of these shipments to those
wishing to seize plutonium for political or military purposes,
the US Department of Defense has stated that: "...even if the
most careful precautions are observed, no one could guarantee the
safety of the cargo from a security incident."

These risks have led countries and organizations around the world
to protest against the plutonium shipments.  Countries throughout
Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, and the
Pacific have requested information about the route and emergency
plans for the shipments.

As Japan has remained silent on the route the ship will take, a
number of countries have privately and publicly warned Japan that
the shipments should stay outside of their territorial or
economic zone waters.

There is also increasing international concern about the
plutonium shipping containers which have not been adequately
designed or tested to withstand serious maritime accidents.

The US House of Representatives has passed legislation seeking
to ban plutonium shipments from US waters until new design and
testing procedures are in place.  The International Maritime
Organization (IMO) has scheduled urgent discussions about
environmental protection and container safety at its
forthcoming meetings in October and December.

"If Japan and France persevere in their plans to make these
plutonium shipments, they will show contempt for
national sovereignty and bodies like the IMO which are charged
with international decision-making," said Damon Moglen.

"No one country, no one industry, has the right to endanger other
countries and future generations in the name of its own
'security'.  Plutonium has contributed neither to global
security nor energy generation yet its production and use have
already polluted the environment for thousands of future
generations.

"Despite the apparent waning of the nuclear arms race,
commercial plutonium production threatens to capsize any hopes
for nuclear non-proliferation in the coming century.  Rather than
allowing the creation of a global market in plutonium, all
nations should band together to stop nuclear proliferation and
plutonium production.

NOTE:

1. The "Akatsuki Maru" left Japan on August 24 bound for
France. It is being escorted by an armed coastguard vessel, the
"Shikishima" which left Japan on September 18. Japan could ship
up to 45 tonnes of plutonium before the year 2000 alone.
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive