Plutonium shipment rebuked

Plutonium shipment rebuked

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Environmental Forum (WALHI)
demanded yesterday the government close Indonesian territorial
waters to this month's shipment of plutonium from France to
Japan.

WALHI said in a statement that the 14 tons of highly
radioactive plutonium waste contained in 28 canisters will be
carried to Japan by a British container.

Indonesia should close its territorial waters to the passage
of the ships carrying plutonium because even a very small
quantity of the substance will cause a catastrophe if an accident
happens, WALHI said.

"They have assured us that the waste will be properly handled,
but remember that accidents can cause disaster," a statement made
available to The Jakarta Post read.

The route to be taken by the ship has been kept a secret but
WALHI predicts that the narrow but busy Malacca Strait and the
Lombok Strait are the probable seaways.

In 1992, a shipment of plutonium from France to Japan provoked
international protests as many countries closed their territorial
waters to the Akatsuki Maru which carried 1.7 tons of plutonium.
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