Amsterdam — The Caribbean Community (Caricom) has communicated to the Japanese Government that nuclear shipments between Japan and Europe are not welcome through the Caribbean Sea.

In a release from the international lobby group, Greenpeace, the organisation says it strongly supports the Caricom in its statements issued at the 8th Caricom/Japan Consultation in Antigua.

“Greenpeace believes the continuing opposition of the Caricom has directed influence over the Japanese Government’s decision as to which route they choose for nuclear transports. However, Greenpeace warns that an imminent shipment of rejected plutonium mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel could be made through the region as early as July this year.”

The Japanese Government has recently confirmed that all three routes between Japan and Europe are options. The Panama Canal/Caribbean Sea route is one of the possible routes for the shipment, Greenpeace said.

The opposition of the Caricom follows last week’s announcement by the Irish Government that it is considering legal options to stop this shipment. The Irish Government believes returning the fuel to the United Kingdom violates a commitment made by that last year to not move any plutonium before October 2002 .

“It is vital that the Japanese Government listens to the voices of opposition from en-route nations threatened by their unjustified nuclear sea shipments. This recent statement, coming only days after the announcement from Ireland, is an important reminder to Japan and the UK that opposition remains united against shipments which threaten by their very presence environmental and economic devastation,” said Shaun Burnie of Greenpeace International.

The plutonium MOX fuel, he said, was originally delivered to Japan in 1999.

Greenpeace urges the nations of the Caribbean to make strenuous efforts over the coming weeks and months to oppose this return shipment. If the transport can be stopped it will directly effect the future viability of BNFL and the Sellafield plutonium site, but it will require strong intervention politically and legally.

“The Caribbean nations are not alone in opposing these nuclear transports. The shipment can be stopped through concerted international action but time is short. This useless plutonium MOX should have been shipped to Japan in the first place, however, now it’s there where it should stay,” said Burnie.

Over 30 countries in the Caribbean, Latin America and the South Pacific opposed the shipment of the ultimately doomed MOX fuel to Japan in 1999. The return is almost certain to generate even greater opposition. The main concerns of countries en-route are the vulnerability of the shipment to catastrophic accident issues of liability and recovery in the event of accident. Security of the transport, including terrorist threats, were a major point of concern before the events of September 11, 2001, and are now sure to be even higher on the agenda.

A total of over 26 tons of plutonium belonging to Japan will be accumulated at the Sellafield site over the next five- 10-years. This, the lobby group insists, is sufficient plutonium for as many as 5,000 weapons. If all of this plutonium were to be fabricated in MOX fuel, it would amount to more than half a million kilogrammes of MOX, requiring between 25 and 50 sea shipments to Japan.

The two vessels that will be used for the shipment, Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal, have just returned from sea trials in the Irish Sea and off the west coast of Scotland. The sea trial included live firing of the ship’s guns. The two ships could leave their homeport Barrow-in-Furness as early as April, travelling to Japan via the Caribbean Sea and Panama Canal, Greenpeace said.