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Roche urged to act on nuclear consignment

Issued : Sunday 3 October, 2004

The Labour Party Chief Whip and Spokesperson on Nuclear Safety, Deputy Emmet Stagg has called on the Environment Minister Dick Roche to intervene with the relevant authorities over a shipment of weapons-grade plutonium which is being transported off the Irish coast. He was speaking today (Sunday) at an event organised by the Irish Sea Nuclear Free Flotilla Parade-of-Sail on City Quay.

Deputy Stagg called on the new Minister for the Environment to take the lead at a European level to stop this and other similar shipments.

Deputy Stagg has also urged the Minister to go to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to use every international convention on marine safety and the marine environment to prevent shipments like this do not enter Irish waters. He said the Government’s response to date was ‘pathetically insufficient’.

“This lethal cargo of plutonium, which is in transit from the United States to France is a nuclear hazard which would have enormous consequences for marine and human health were it to leak or explode. It is simply not good enough for the Minister for Environment to say he can do nothing.

“By transporting this lethal cargo across the Atlantic, the French and US Government are posing an unnecessary threat to the environment and human health. The French Government is notoriously poor when it comes to security for such shipments – weekly transportations of weapons-grade plutonium are carried in non-armoured vehicles under low-level police protection.

“The international community should be hugely concerned about the extent and nature of these nuclear shipments at a time of heightened international terrorism. Shipping plutonium around the world presents terrorists with a target which threatens human life around the world.

“The Irish Minister for the Environment must intervene with the American and French Government to ensure that this shipment is kept away from Irish seas. Furthermore, he should avail of all international conventions on the marine through the IMO to prevent such a scenario.

“This is not the first time that the Minister’s action on such matters has been found wanting – he should have given due warning about this case and intervened earlier. He must make the case at EU level immediately to make sure these lethal shipments are stopped”, he added.