CNMI and Guam officials have raised environmental and security concerns over the shipment of mixed uranium-plutonium oxide that may travel near the islands on its journey from Japan to the United Kingdom in the next few weeks.
As of today, there are three routes for the shipment of the nuclear waste from Kansai Electrical Power Co., Inc. in Japan to British Nuclear Fuels PLC in the United Kingdom.
Congressman Robert Underwood, D-Guam, yesterday said that while the exact route of the uranium-plutonium oxide had remained a tightly kept secret, there is a need for the U.S. government and Pacific islands to be ready to respond in case an accident at sea or a terrorist act occurs.
Underwood, in a June 11 letter to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, called for assurances from Japan, the United Kingdom and the U.S. that every precaution possible would taken so that the health and welfare of Pacific islanders would not be jeopardized by a possible terrorist act or mishap at sea.
“Such a shipment, without adequate and heightened security protections, threatens to compromise the environmental safety of the Pacific and may be harmful to U.S. national security interests,” Underwood said in a statement.
Underwood said he is especially concerned that this MOX can be diverted for nuclear weapons use.
Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente, in a telephone interview, echoed the same concerns.
He said the issue will be thoroughly discussed with other government officials, including Gov. Juan N. Babauta.
“The government is concerned about the possible impact of this to the environment, and on any activity that may be related to terrorism,” Benavente said.
Rep. Arnold Palacios, R-Saipan and chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, said the shipment should be opposed.
“These are radioactive materials and we just can’t dismiss it,” he said.
Palacios said he is gathering more information about the planned shipment, and may take up the issue with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies.
John I. Castro, director of the Division of Environmental Quality, said he shares Underwood’s concerns.
However, DEQ has not received any communications from the U.S. Department of State about this issue, Castro said.
According to Underwood, “We made the same protests in 1999 when we learned of anticipated MOX shipments. And because we are in the area, we want to make sure the U.S. protects our interests, and protects our safety.”
In his letter to Powell, he said, “Toward this end, I hope that the Department of State has informed all relevant federal officials of this planned shipment and the security arrangements as well as notified all Members of Congress whose districts and states may be affected.”
Greenpeace International said that an armed British nuclear transport ship, the Pacific Pintail, arrived on June 14 at the nuclear reactor port of Takahama, Fukui Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast.
Local Japanese anti-nuclear activities and Greenpeace met the ship’s arrival with protest.
The ship is delivering an empty transport container to the reactor site, where it is due to be loaded within the next few weeks with rejected plutonium MOX shipped to Japan by British Nuclear Fuels in 1999.
