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Activists held ahead of nuclear shipment [France purchases a clue]
CHERBOURG, France (Reuters) - French police have detained a Greenpeace boat and two activists ahead of the arrival of a U.S. shipment of bomb-grade plutonium on two British-registered ships, the environmental pressure group says. The shipment is due to arrive in France late on Monday. Dozens of activists have since Saturday awaited the arrival of the two ships, escorted by armed commandos, at the port of Cherbourg in northern France. Activists question the wisdom of transporting such security-sensitive cargo at a time of heightened risk of terror attacks globally. French nuclear energy firm Areva, whose Cogema unit will recycle the 140 kg (308 lb) of plutonium, said it would only release information on the shipment from Charleston, South Carolina, a few hours ahead of its arrival. "The two ships transporting the plutonium should arrive on Monday night," said a Greenpeace spokesman. He said the activists were detained while putting up a protest banner. Despite the oddity of this happening in France, such an event should serve as a signal to the greens that their attempts to generate publicity or draw attention to potential terrorist targets shall not be tolerated. Many political groups will need to rethink their actions in light of global terrorism or increasingly find themselves categorized with those terror operatives. The shipment is part of a post-Cold War agreement between the United States and Russia to get rid of plutonium from excess nuclear warheads. Greenpeace criticised the transport, saying on arrival in Cherbourg the plutonium would be driven over 1,000 km (660 miles) in vulnerable trucks to a factory in southeast France. Of course, Greenpeace takes no responsibility with regard to how they have centered attention upon these "vulnerable trucks" for any curious terrorist cells. Way to go, @ssholes. Areva's Cogema unit will recycle the plutonium into nuclear fuel at its Cadarache and Marcoule plants in southeastern France and ship it back to the United States, which plans to use it in an electricity-generating reactor. It is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's controversial programme to turn plutonium from the "excess" nuclear warheads into mixed-oxide (MOX) plutonium-uranium enriched fuel. Critics fear the fuel could potentially be used to build nuclear weapons. Actually, America may have a need for some more warheads in the very near future. Iran's been coveting them for quite a while now and it's about time to make their wish come true. Posted by: Zenster 2004-10-03 |
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