Greenpeace blocks rail spur to stop nuclear fuel

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Greenpeace blocks rail spur to stop nuclear fuel

PARIS, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Environmental group Greenpeace said it 
built a wall across a railway spur on Sunday to keep the French 
state nuclear reprocessing firm Cogema from shipping nuclear fuel 
to Japan. 

Greenpeace, which believes the fuel is to be shipped this week, 
said in a statement that it had built a 2-metre-high (2-yard-high) 
stone wall, daubed with the slogan "Stop Plutonium," across a 
track linking Cogema's plant to the channel port of Cherbourg. 

A Greenpeace spokesman said police had not yet tried to remove 
the wall. 

He also said protesters who had chained themselves to rail 
terminal gates at the Volognes plant, some 20 kilometres (12 
miles) south of Cherbough, were still there. 

Greenpeace said it expected the cargo to be 230 kilograms (507 
lb) of plutonium, enough to make 20 atomic bombs. 

If it left the plant, it would be the second fuel shipment from 
Cherbourg. The British-owned "Pacific Swan," which left the French 
port on December 19, is scheduled to dock in Aomori in northern 
Japan in February carrying a cargo of nuclear waste. 

The first shipment of French-processed spent fuel sparked 
widespread criticism from countries with coastlines on the planned 
route, including Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. 

Greenpeace said it was concerned about the hazardous route the 
ship would take around Cape Horn, the icy tip of South America, 
where fierce gales and strong currents make navigation difficult. 

Cogema said last week the new shipment of MOX fuel would leave 
Europe for Japan "shortly," adding that the date and cargo details 
would be announced two days before departure. No one at Cogema 
was immediately available for comment on Sunday. 

The MOX fuel, which comes from Cogema's Belgian subsidiary 
Belgonucleaire, combines plutonium and uranium oxide recycled 
from spent nuclear fuel. 

Greenpeace said it expected two ships to leave the northern 
English port of Barrow-in-Furness, where British Nuclear Fuels 
(BNFL) is based, on Sunday evening, making this Wednesday, 
January 17, the likely shipment date. 

Cogema, the world's top nuclear fuel reprocessing company and 
MOX manufacturer, has contracts in France, Germany and Japan. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.			E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com
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