The shipment currently travelling to Japan contains enough plutonium for about 60 nuclear weapons. The safety of the shipment has been seriously jeopardized by cost-cutting and secrecy. Problems include inadequate design, testing and construction of the transport containers, insufficient emergency planning and inadequate liability coverage. Japan is reportedly planning to ship weapons-grade plutonium from Europe to its territory by way of the narrow straits between Korea and Japan this summer. The plan, if it is true, should be stopped by all means.
Plutonium is one of the most toxic materials in the world.
When inhaled, it may cause lung cancer, bone cancer and leukemia. If an accidental leak were to occur, it would contaminate food and water supplies leading to widespread exposure. One of them will pass through the Korea Straits en route to its Japanese destination, the Takahama plant on Wakasa Bay adjacent to the East Sea. The KFEM and Greeenpeace seem determined to stop the plan. Environmental groups in the southeastern port city of Pusan, which is not far from the reported route of the plutonium shipment, are, in particular, most resolute in their opposition.