MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Greenpeace requests info on radioactive load

Greenpeace has once again requested Argentine Foreign Affairs officials to demand their Australian counterparts exact information as to the course of the “Fret Messelle” that is carrying nuclear waste, as well as evidence to support the statement “that the vessel will not be crossing Cape Horn”.

This week the Argentine Foreign Affairs in a public release stated that the "Fret Messell" that left from Australia for France October 27 with irradiated nuclear fuel from the Lucas Height reactor near Sydney, will not be crossing Cape Horn.

"We are after a confirmation from the Argentine government on this point", said Juan Carlos Villalonga, head of campaigns for the Argentine chapter of Greenpeace.

"The Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs must be more precise about its sources since neither Australia nor the companies involved in the transport operation have made any official comment".

Mr. Villalonga admitted that in spite of a positive attitude from Argentine authorities, "details of the precise operation remain secret; this ambiguity of the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding shipments of nuclear waste is not satisfactory for the civilian society".

Greenpeace pointed out to the fact that the provincial legislature of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands strongly condemned the passage of "the "Fret Mosselle" by the Cape Horn maritime route".

The provincial legislature seated in Ushuaia recalls that in January 2001 the "Pacific Swan" was forced out of Argentine territorial waters following a federal court ruling specifying that the Argentine Constitution bans the access of all radioactive waste into Argentina.

Tierra del Fuego legislators also requested from Argentine Congress the non ratification of the Argentine-Australian treaty for Cooperation in the Peaceful Use of nuclear energy which contemplates the access of Australian nuclear waste into Argentine territory for reprocessing.

Greenpeace managed this time a similar ruling from a Federal Judge banning the "Fret Mosselle" from Argentine waters.

Actually if the vessel sailing for the French port of Le Havre with 344 radioactive rods is circumnavigating South America, it should be approaching Chilean and Argentine Economic Exclusive Zones, EEZ, sometime next mid week. The Australia-France trip can take anywhere from 34 to 51 days.

The Australian reactor in Lucas Heights, 15 miles from Sydney works with highly enriched uranium (U-235), that can also be used for the manufacturing of nuclear arms