nuclear-news

Highly radioactive nuclear waste begins its secret journey to Japan

The first batch of 28 steel canisters containing Highly Active Waste was taken from Sellafield nuclear facility on Thursday and loaded aboard the Pacific Sandpiper at Barrow docks under tight security. The ship set sail on Wednesday evening, bound for a nuclear facility in Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan.

The authorities in Japan have declined to comment on the details of the shipment, including its defensive capabilities or the route it will take before docking here in late March, on the grounds of security.Environmental campaigners say that no matter the route Pacific Sandpiper takes, the authorities cannot rule out the risk of an accident that results in the waste being released into the environment…..Hideyuki Ban, head of the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Centre said:

“If the ship hits trouble and the waste somehow ends up in the sea, that radioactive material will sooner or later contaminate the ocean,” …http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/7041426/Nuclear-waste-shipment-leaves-Britain-for-Japan.html

January 22, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive