The Solo, which ended its tracking of the nucler waste ship Pacific Pintail after 56 days at sea, will arrive in Tokyo early today and will host a press conference on Earth Day, today, and open boat for the Japanese public next weekend.
ampaigner Bas Bruyne, ship's Captain Ulf Birgander and Japanese Anti-Nuclear Campaigner Emi Ueno will talk to Japanese press on board the Solo about their voyage with the Pintail from France to Japan and about the country's flawed plutonium reprocessing policy. Last night, Bas filed his final over view of the Solo's voyage which follows this update. The 14-person staff of the Japanese office, has been working long-hours and every weekend since the nuclear waste ship left Cherbourg, France sending updates to an estimated 100 Japanese and international journalists based in Japan and preparing for the arrival of the Pintail.
Yesterday, Greenpeace Anti-plutonium Campaigner Damon Moglen from France joined victims of the plutonium industry from France (La Hague) and Britain (Sellafield in Cumbria) in meeting with local people from the region of Aomori in northern Japan to discuss their similar situations. All of these communties face severe health threats from radioactive discharges into their water and/or air and the possibility of a nuclear accident near their homes. They have come together this week for the first time to protest the ongoing trade in dangerous plutonium as the Nuclear- Non-Proliforation Treaty (NPT) talks continue at the United Nations in New York to discuss this and other proliforation threats.
To these local communities directly effected by this dangerous trade, these talks hold the potential to outlaw plutonium proliforation and end the threat they face every day. We urge those concerned with the outcome of the NPT to contact their government leaders and demand they do more than just maintain the status quo of the NPT by passing an indefinite extension but that they take real action to end the nuclear age.
More next week as the shipment arrives in Aomori, Japan.
Blair