nuclear-news

Huge stockpile of weapons grade plutonium to sail from Japan to USA

Stockpile of weapons-grade plutonium big enough to make FIFTY nuclear bombs to be shipped to US from Japan after it was loaned for research 

• Huge stockpile has caused disquiet among various anti-nuclear groups 
• Some 730 pounds of plutonium will be sent by armed UK transport ship
• Departure from north of Tokyo port could happen as soon as this weekend
• Material will be disposed of in United States, says Japanese spokesman

Daily Mail, By MATT HUNTER FOR MAILONLINE  19 March 201

Japan will return enough plutonium to produce 50 nuclear bombs to the US starting this weekend.

The stockpile, provided by the US, Britain and France decades ago for research purposes, has caused disquiet among anti-nuclear groups and neighbouring countries given Japan has the know-how to produce a nuclear weapon, although it does not possess any.

Some 730 pounds of plutonium will be sent by ‘an armed British nuclear transport ship… under armed escort to the United States,’ said a joint statement by five groups, including Greenpeace.

Shaun Burnie, senior nuclear specialist at Greenpeace said: ‘The departure from a port north of Tokyo could occur as early as Sunday.’

The shipment, which comes ahead of a nuclear security summit in Washington this month, is meant to underscore both countries’ commitment to nuclear non-proliferation. apaneses government official, Tsukasa Yamamura, said: ‘The material will be disposed of in the United States.’

The government confirmed in January the plutonium would be sent to the US and said that preparations for the shipment were under way.

But Yamamura declined to elaborate. ‘We can’t comment on details such as the departure date and route for security reasons,’ he said.It will take two months for the ship to arrive at a nuclear facility in South Carolina, the campaign groups said

Mr Burnie added: ‘Hailing a shipment of hundreds of kilogrammes of plutonium as a triumph for nuclear security, while ignoring over nine tonnes of the weapons material stockpiled in Japan and in a region of rising tensions, is not just a failure of nuclear non-proliferation and security policy but a dangerous delusion.’  …….http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3499089/Stockpile-weapons-grade-plutonium-big-make-FIFTY-nuclear-bombs-shipped-Japan-loaned-research.html

March 19, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general