Taking advantage of the recent Bank Holiday weekend, Sellafield’s British Nuclear Group (BNG) shipped 4 MOX fuel assemblies (containing around 80kg of plutonium) on 28th May from Sellafield by road to Workington docks for onward shipment on the BNFL ship Atlantic Osprey to Switzerland via the French port of Cherbourg. Because of its plutonium content, the fuel is classified at the highest security level and requires maximum security and safety measures to defend against terrorist attack.
CORE’s spokesperson Martin Forwood said “ We understand the road journey from Sellafield to Workington, and from France to Switzerland, was undertaken by lorries owned by Cogema Logistics (part of French reprocessing company). French plutonium transport methods were highly criticised in a recent report and we’ll be seeking clarificatrion about their use in West Cumbria. We are also questioning once again the use of a second-hand BNFL ship which has second rate safety and security features”.
The 4 MOX fuel assemblies were produced (at least 4 years late) in the Sellafield MOX plant for the Swiss Beznau power station and transported on two Cogema Logistics lorries onboard the BNFL ship Atlantic Osprey from Workington Docks to the port of Cherbourg. At Cherbourg the MOX fuel was unloaded early this week at the port’s commercial passenger terminal under heavy security and taken by road to Switzerland under escort. Unlike the ships previously used for MOX fuel and plutonium transports to Japan, the Atlantic Osprey is not double-hulled, has only one engine, has no naval canon and travels unescorted by a second armed vessel.
French plutonium transport methods were heavily criticised in a report published earlier this year. The Report was an assessment by US expert Ronald E Timm of the security of a transport last year of US plutonium through France. In comparing that transport with the more routine plutonium transports in France, the Report highlighted a number of significant security shortcomings in the French system. These included weaknesses in the containers holding the MOX fuel – which could be breached within seconds using hand or power tools and/or explosives – and the ‘virtually non-existant’ protection against terrorist attack.
CORE’s spokesperson added “ We maintain our total opposition to these plutonium fuel shipments and will be seeking assurances from the highest level that Workington and West Cumbria is not being fobbed off with suspect french methods and an inferior ship”.