S. African Navy shadows Pu shipment

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@ix.netcom.com>]

The following article was provided by the Reuters News Service. I 
find it very interesting that there are so many radwaste issues in 
the press these past few weeks.. Taiwan Power and Korea and the 
international consequences is in the forefront.
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  JOHANNESBURG, Feb 2  - The South African Navy  
Minehunter SAS Umzimkulu  shadowed a British ship carrying 
nuclear waste on Sunday as it passed the southernmost tip of 
Africa at Cape Agulhus, a navy spokesman said. 
  ``A navy ship is just monitoring her position, but she is  
staying well clear of the coast,'' navy spokesman Stan Slogove 
told Reuters. 
  He said the navy did not have the legal right to force the  
Pacific Teal more than 12 miles from the coast. The ship is 
carrying forty blocks of radioactive plutonium waste from France to
Japan where it will be reprocessed. 
  ``She is to the south of Cape Agulhus and has been keeping  
about 200 to 300 miles off the coast,'' Slogrove said. 
  He said the ship, travelling twice her normal speed, would  
probably be out of South African coastal waters by Wednesday. 
  ``We are not worried but we are monitoring her position.  
Normally, they keep well out of the way at a safe distance, but 
we have been tracking her from France and getting position 
reports, and we will track her until she is out of our waters,''
Slogrove said. 
  Environmental groups in South Africa have protested against  
the route the ship is taking and urged the South African 
government to take a tough stand on the issue. 
  ``The nuclear industry has taken the route around the Cape  
of Good Hope because they thought they could avoid public and 
political opposition,'' Greenpeace spokesman Diederik Samsom 
said in a statement on Saturday. 

Sandy Perle
Technical Director
ICN Dosimetry Division
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Office: (800) 548-5100 x2306 
Fax: (714) 668-3149

E-Mail: sandyfl@ix.netcom.com    
        sperle@icnpharm.com
 
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