7 yachts sail to protest use of Pacific in plutonium shipment

SYDNEY, Australia (Greenpeace) — A flotilla of seven yachts from Australia and New Zealand left port today to sail to the northwest Tasman Sea, where they will protest the use of the Tasman and the Pacific Ocean as a nuclear highway for plutonium ships.

Patrina Dumaru, who is the Assistant Director- Environment at the Pacific Concerns Resource Centre, was among the well wishers gathered in Sydney to see off three of the Nuclear-Free Tasman Flotilla members, the yachts “Tiama,” “Fand” and “Antarctica.”

In her farewell message, Dumaru spoke of the 53 members of the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement who have signed a statement condemning the latest shipment of plutonium to Japan, which is expected to pass through the Pacific Island region in mid March.

“Our desire for a nuclear-free Pacific has been expressed by our peoples for decades. The young generation will continue to fight for this until it is realized,” Dumaru said.

Nauru’s Acting President and the Cook Islands Prime Minister have both condemned nuclear shipments through the Pacific region in recent weeks. New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Helen Clark, has also expressed her government’s “strenuous” objection to the passage of plutonium through the Tasman, and has wished the flotilla well.

Flotilla spokesman, Tony Atkinson, said the mission of those sailing was to draw world attention to the use of the Tasman Sea and the South Pacific as a nuclear highway.

“We are trying to stop these shipments from taking place worldwide and to break the nuclear cycle that the world is locked into,” said Henk Haazen, skipper of Tiama. “Plutonium is the most dangerous man-made substance and needs to be stored safely for 24,000 years before it breaks down. How can we load our children’s futures with such a liability?”

Opposition to the plutonium shipments is equally strong in Japan. In Niigata prefecture, people living next to the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, where the plutonium is headed, are seeking a referendum on Japan’s plutonium MOX program. In the past week, members of the Niigata prefecture legislature have written to the Nuclear-Free Tasman Flotilla offering their support and solidarity.

Once the yachts arrive at their destination point – 650 nautical miles north-east of Sydney and 650 nautical miles north-west of Auckland – they plan to form a symbolic chain across the 75 miles of international waters where the plutonium ships are likely to pass. They do not plan to stop or obstruct the passage of the ships.