by Paul Harris and Mark Townsend
June 9, 2002 - Observer of London
Two British ships will slip into the Japanese port of Takahama this week to
pick up a cargo of plutonium large enough to make 50 nuclear bombs.
The Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal, carrying 225kg of weapons-useable
plutonium, will leave Japan bound for Cumbria. Their voyage will face
flotillas of furious protesters and risk not only a major diplomatic
incident but the threat of terrorism.
The ships left Britain five weeks ago under a shroud of secrecy but it has
proved impossible to keep their route secret. Today the BNFL boats will
enter the NorthWest Pacific Basin, 1,500 miles from their destination.
Environmentalists are monitoring their every move. Terrorists may be
watching too...
...The voyage is acutely embarrassing for Britain. The nuclear fuel in
question was shipped to Japan three years ago, but after staff at
Government-owned BNFL admitted faking the material's safety records Britain
was ordered to take back the contentious cargo. Refusal to bring back the
shipment would, according to analysts, sabotage around £4 billion of
investment between BNFL and Japan as well as jeopardizing the future of the
controversial new £472m Mox (mixed oxide) plant at Sellafield.
Environmentalists blame the Government's 'flawed' nuclear policies for its
decision to press ahead with the risky global trade in reprocessed plutonium
and uranium oxide, known as Mox fuel.
Protesters plan a flotilla of more than 100 boats to intercept the nuclear
convoy when it moves up the Irish Sea in August - although they will not
blockade the ships' path. 'This plutonium is dangerous enough as it is - we
don't want to do anything to make it more of a risk,' said Andrew Clemence
of Pembrokeshire Anti-Nuclear Alliance, which is organizing the British side
of the protests.
He believes the potential for disaster in the Irish Sea, a narrow stretch of
water notorious for its sudden storms, strong and unpredictable currents and
rocky coasts, remains a real prospect. 'If one of those boats breaks down or
starts to sink it could pollute these waters for years to come,' he said.
The Irish government is considering a legal attempt to try to stop the
shipment coming into the Irish Sea. Rowan Hand, an amateur sailor from Co
Louth, is co-ordinating the Irish protests. 'Our fears are not being taken
seriously. This sort of convoy is total madness,' he said.
Yet it is the threat of terrorism that raises most alarm. 'Any
transportation of that sort of material would need to be safeguarded in a
very thorough way,' said Professor Paul Wilkinson, terrorism expert at St
Andrews University. 'Some terrorist organizations would love to get hold of
it. Al-Qaeda would be really interested in going the whole hog when it comes
to nuclear weapons.'
Experts believe there are al-Qaeda cells in at least 50 countries, making it
almost impossible for the boat to navigate halfway across the world without
coming close to some. William Hopkinson, former Assistant Under Secretary of
State at the Ministry of Defense, also believes the shipment is coveted by
Saddam Hussein. Dr Frank Barnaby, former nuclear physicist with the UK
Atomic Weapons Establishment, warned that anyone who seized the cargo could
easily convert it into nuclear devices within weeks. 'Any significant
terrorist groups would be able to do this or have sympathizers that could,'
he said.
A confidential report by Barnaby to Ministers warns that anyone who obtains
Mox fuel would need no more technical knowledge to build an atomic device
than that used to make the Lockerbie bomb.
However, BNFL maintains the vessels are among the most foolproof in the
world. The vessels, which are specially strengthened, are equipped with
three 30mm cannon, now obscured under tarpaulins, making them the first
commercial ships since World War II to be armed. Armed guards are on board.
Even if the boats are captured, BNFL believes terrorists would face enormous
difficulties cracking open the vessel's reinforced hatch covers. However a
US government study has concluded armed terrorists could get at a nuclear
cargo by using explosives to blow open the transport casks.
Another scenario involves the material being used as a bargaining chip by
its new owners, in effect converting the Mox fuel into a powerful hostage
against world governments. A direct attack with missiles, captured aircraft
or boats used as battering rams is a threat taken seriously by both US and
UK intelligence.
Both vessels are relatively slow - top speed is in the region of 15 knots -
leaving them unable to outpace faster more modern vessels and vulnerable to
attack from 'small, fast craft armed with ship-to-ship missiles', according
to a US defense report. Furthermore, the respected Jane's Foreign Report
concluded that security provided by the Pintail and Teal 'is totally
inadequate for transporting half a ton of plutonium halfway around the
world'.
The routes being considered for the Mox shipment are among the most
accident-prone in the world. Before 11 September there was concern that
security for the shipment was not tight enough. Yet there is no suggestion
it has been upgraded since the original transportation in 1999.
The fuel will be transported along one of three possible routes - via the
Panama Canal and Caribbean Sea; across the South Pacific, Tasman Sea and
Africa's Cape of Good Hope; or via South America - all of which are fraught
with difficulties and opposed by nations en route.
© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002
Reprinted under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright
law ( http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html ). All
copyrights belong to original publisher.
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