http://www.greenpeace.org/~comms/62.html (Einblicke ins Internet, 10/1995)Early this morning, the nuclear waste ship Pacific Pintail is expected to arrive in the port of Mutsu Ogawara in Rokkasho, Northern Japan. We have a number of staff from the Japan office and from the international campaign who have worked for months now tracking the shipment in Rokkasho to take part in the protest.
Mid-morning we got word that the local governor of Rokkosho announced that he would not allow the Pintail into port to off- load its waste without confirmation that the waste would not end up in Rokkosho permanently. Below is the release we sent out in support of his right to refuse the waste.
Protests at the site continued throughout the day with over 1,000 Japanese people from the locality, region and country joining together to say no to the waste shipment. We joined in as international protesters over the global shipment and the trade in plutonium as well as the siting of a waste site in a small Japanese fishing community.
More as the day unfolds.
Best Wishes and No Nukes! Blair Palese
Mutsu Ogawara, Japan, April 25, 1995 -- (GP) Greenpeace today said that the 24 hour delay of the Pacific Pintail's docking in Japan, because of its deadly cargo of 14 tonnes of highly radioactive waste, was yet another sign of growing international opposition to the plutonium industry.
Damon Moglen, Greenpeace International nuclear campaigner said from Rokkasho in northern Japan today that there could not be any guarantees for the safe storage of the waste at its destination - a storage facility in the Aomori prefecture in Northern Japan. Indeed, there was a severe earthquake last year where cracks appeared in the road outside the storage facility.
As Greenpeace and an estimated one thousand regional and national Japanese people gathered earlier today in the port to protest the arrival of the Pacific Pintail, the local Governor refused to admit the British-owned ship, demanding a promise by the nuclear industry that the Aomori Prefecture would not be the final storage site for this waste.
The Japanese authorities turned the small fishing village of Rokkasho into a heavy fortified area, with riot police, road blocks, several naval vessels and some 40 police vehicles.
The last-minute delay was due to strong local opposition to heavy-handed tactics and secrecy surrounding the plutonium program and waste storage policy. As of 7 pm Japan time, the Pacific Pintail was waiting just off shore to enter the port, and it is now understood that it will dock and unload at first light tomorrow.
"The plutonium industry makes three things: plutonium, nuclear waste and victims. The victimisation by this irresponsible and militaristic industry has been seen throughout the voyage of the Pintail -- the most controversial shipment ever made," said Moglen.
"Like the 35 nations who protested the shipping of this waste around the world, the local people -- apple growers and fishermen -- have every right to refuse this nuclear waste," he said.
"Since there is no safe way to deal with nuclear waste and since no community wants to be left with a legacy of radioactive contamination, the only real solution is to end its production altogether."
Greenpeace's ship Solo tracked the voyage of the Pintail from France to Japan over a period of 56 days to warn enroute states of its dangerous cargo. The Solo arrived in Tokyo on Saturday where a press conference was held to call for an end to any future shipments and to plutonium reprocessing.
The highly radioactive waste arriving today is expected to be dumped in a new repository. Japan, however, has no real or long- term way to deal with its nuclear waste in a country prone to earthquakes and tidal waves. With its persisting plutonium utilization program, an ever-growing amount of waste and dozens of plutonium and waste shipments to and from Japan will take place in the next 15 years.
"That this shipment and its arrival in Japan should take place in the middle of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) talks at the United Nations in New York points to the dire need for a stronger treaty that will end plutonium proliferation once and for all," said Greenpeace International's Damon Moglen.
The Pacific Pintail left Cherbourg, France with its 14-ton cargo of highly radioactive plutonium waste on February 23, 1995. Greenpeace accompanied the Pintail to provide information to enroute nations threatened by the otherwise secret transport. The nuclear freighter was turned aside from its intended route through the Panama Canal by intense opposition in the Caribbean and Central America. The Pintail then forced its way through the coastal waters of South America and Cape Horn despite the formal opposition of South American governments. After skirting the dangerous waters off Cape Horn the ship sailed for over four weeks across the Pacific. Ultimately, the Pintail and its cargo was banned by over 35 nations and denounced by numerous others.
Contact:
Bas Bruyne, Greenpeace in Tokyo: ++813-5351-5400 or aboard the
SOLO in Tokyo 81 3 3534 0801
or
Cindy Baxter in London Greenpeace Communications
44 171 833 0600