US nuclear cargo on way to France

By Rob Broomby
BBC News

The Pacific Teal could encounter protests too on arrival in France

A British ship carrying radioactive plutonium has set sail for France from a US naval base in South Carolina amid protests and tight security.

Military movements are classified, but it is probably the first time weapons grade plutonium has been shipped overseas.

US Department of Energy officials said they could not recall a previous instance of such a shipment.

The 140kg of material is to be turned into nuclear fuel or Mox in France.

The highly radioactive material has been taken directly from nuclear warheads, following disarmament agreements with the Russians.

Weapons grade material enables countries with relatively crude weapons programme to construct a nuclear weapon John Large Greenpeace consultant

Environmentalists say it presents a major terrorist target.

Nuclear consultant John Large gave evidence for Greenpeace opposing the shipment.

"This would be a short cut to any sub-nuclear nation or terrorist group, to actually manufacture a nuclear weapon," he said.

"Weapons grade material enables countries with relatively crude weapons programme to construct a nuclear weapon," he added.

Armed police

The UK registered ship, belonging to a subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), was being escorted to America's 12-mile (19-km) limit by US coast guard vessels, where it was to join a second BNFL ship.

The twin vessels, the Pacific Teal and the Pacific Pintail, are to make the Atlantic crossing together.

The Pacific Pintail is the other cargo ship being used

Both have a squad of armed police on board from the UK Atomic Energy Agency Constabulary.

The ships carry naval cannons, have satellite monitoring, twin engines and hull protection.

But critics say the shipment would be safer if carried on a naval frigate.

The BBC has learned that there was to be no British or American naval escort in international waters.

Captain Malcolm Miller, head of international transport at BNFL, said they were the "safest sea transports" he had ever seen. A naval escort had not been requested and was not necessary, he added.

He said the two ships would "mutually support each other".

Irish Environment Minister Martin Cullen told the BBC that "any accident could have catastrophic effects."

He wants assurances that they will not pass near Irish waters.

Ireland, with New Zealand, Peru and Chile, is co-sponsoring a proposal at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) seeking detailed information for coastal states on all movements of nuclear material in international waters.

UK Labour MP David Chaytor, a member of the parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee, called the shipment "completely insane".

After 9/11, "warnings could not be ignored", he said.

Ploughshares

BNFL said the security arrangements were seen to be "robust by the US authorities and the other governments" and the proliferation risk was "very remote".

When the shipment reaches Cherbourg in about three weeks, it will be transported overland for more than 600 miles (960km) to Cadarache in south-east France.

The last known transport of separated plutonium - though not weapons grade - was in 1992, when the French shipped over a tonne of civil plutonium to Japan.

On that occasion, the Greenpeace crew were held at gunpoint amid military-style security.

Greenpeace says the plutonium should be disposed of as nuclear waste to avoid the transport and proliferation risks.

The industry says the "Mox for peace" programme is a case of swords to ploughshares.