Activists seek ban on plutonium freighter<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Environmental activists have called on the
\ngovernment to bar a British freighter, which is carrying
\nplutonium from France to Japan, from passing through Indonesian
\nwaters.<\/p>\n
\"Although the route is a heavily-guarded secret, we have
\nreason to believe that the ship may choose to go through the
\nnarrow Straits of Malacca,\" Muhammad Anung of the Indonesian
\nForum for the Environment (Walhi) said during a discussion on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
Attended by activists, politicians and journalists, the
\nmeeting was the first time that the transportation of plutonium
\nby the Pacific Pintail has been publicly discussed in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The vessel set sail on Thursday from France's Cherbourg
\nharbor. Its precise route has not been disclosed.<\/p>\n
Greenpeace, the London-based environmental group which has
\nbeen campaigning for international opposition to the shipment,
\nspeculated that the ship might pass through the Straits of
\nMalacca, an international shipping lane jointly administered by
\nIndonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Another route would be through
\nthe Straits of Lombok, which is administered by Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Island countries in the Pacific have already rejected the
\nshipment of radioactive waste through their waters. Fiji was the
\nlast country to join in, with its foreign ministry sending an
\nofficial objection to the Japanese embassy in Suva on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Caribbean countries have also stated their opposition.<\/p>\n
If the ship rounds the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa is
\nreported to be planning to track its progress along the coast.<\/p>\n
Apart from the Philippines, Southeast Asian countries have not
\nannounced a position on the shipment, strengthening Greenpeace's
\nsuspicion that the Pacific Pintail may pass through Indonesian
\nwaters.<\/p>\n
Japan needs the plutonium as a raw material for its extensive
\nnuclear power reactors. The plutonium comes from reprocessing
\nplants in France and Britain.<\/p>\n
Anung said Walhi opposes any shipment of plutonium,
\n\"especially if it passes through Indonesian waters\".<\/p>\n
The slightest leakage of the radioactive material, which could
\noccur in an accident, would cause a major catastrophe, he said.<\/p>\n
Legislator Laksmiari Priyonggo from the Indonesian Democratic
\nParty, which attended Friday's discussion, warned of the
\npossibility of the waste being dumped into the ocean along the
\nway. \"I think it would be very hard to keep track of the ship.
\nThe containers could even be empty by the time they reach Japan,\"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
Local human rights activist H.J.C. Princen said that NGOs
\n\"must be confident that they can make a difference.\"<\/p>\n
\"Anti-nuclear campaigns must be organized extensively and must
\ninvolve a wide section of the public, something which can be
\nachieved through the mass media,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Greenpeace has drawn up four possible routes which the
\nplutonium ship might take: through the Caribbean Sea and the
\nPanama Canal, passing near Hawaii while crossing the Pacific;
\naround the Cape of Good Hope, across the Indian Ocean and then
\neither through the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea or
\naround Australia and then north through the islands of the south
\nPacific; through the Mediterranean Ocean and the Suez Canal; and
\naround Latin America (Cape Horn) and then across the Pacific.<\/p>\n
Greenpeace said that the plutonium shipments \"are a recipe for
\ndisaster which will only be stopped by public opposition and
\npolitical and legal action.\"<\/p>\n
In 1992 a shipment of plutonium from France to Japan provoked
\ninternational protests as many countries closed their territorial
\nwaters to the Akatsuki Maru, which carried 1.7 tons of plutonium.
\n(pwn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/activists-seek-ban-on-plutonium-freighter-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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