By Karen Fredericks
Dozens of countries have banned the Japanese freighter, Akatsuki Maru, from their territorial waters. Australia has not. The ship, which left the French port of Cherbourg on November 7, is carrying 1.7 tonnes of the highly toxic and radioactive element plutonium. Australia's consent by silence may mean it follows a route close to the Australian coast.
On November 9 Australian environment minister Ros Kelly said, unofficially, "Quite clearly we do not want it [the ship] here". But she went on to say that her main concern was to determine whether, if the ship was involved in an "incident" in Australian waters, Australia would be obliged to go to its aid under the terms of any international instrument. Meanwhile the plutonium had already been on the high seas for two days.
Greenpeace's nuclear coordinator in Australia, Jean McSorley, says that Australia's silence on the issue is due to a number of factors. Among these are international laws which require the consent of the nation from which the plutonium originates before the substance may be transported across international waters. Thus Canada has been required to consent to the current shipment.
"We know that Australia supplies uranium to Japan. As there are another 39 shipments [of plutonium to Japan] planned for some time in the future, the Australian government may be called upon to consent to a shipment of plutonium which has originated from Australian uranium."
McSorley also suggests there may be some link with Australian plans to send its own spent nuclear fuel through South Pacific waters for reprocessing in the US. Australia was among the 15 member nations of the South Pacific Forum which wrote to the Japanese government expressing concern at the shipment. Greenpeace has evidence, says McSorley, that the Australian delegate to the forum watered down the protest motion.
Australia's role in the world nuclear industry was further highlighted on November 11 when it was revealed in the Melbourne Age that a nuclear cooperation agreement with Indonesia will be signed at the Ministerial Forum, to be attended by five Australian ministers, in Jakarta on November 16 and 17.
The agreement is a huge step in the development of a nuclear power industry in the region. Indonesia plans to build 12 nuclear reactors on Muria Peninsula, near a dormant volcano on central Java's northern coast. A Japanese company was last year awarded the contract to conduct a feasibility study for Indonesia's first commercial reactor. The expertise, technology and, later, uranium which Australia has agreed to provide will be vital to Indonesia's conversion to nuclear power.
Greenpeace has called the agreement "utterly reckless". McSorley to trade in nuclear technology and information with Indonesia must rank as one of the most foolhardy escapades that the government has ever embarked upon". She points out that a radioactive release from any of the reactors would be felt across south-east Asia and northern and western Australia.
"Before Senator Evans signs any documents, he should explain his decision to the people of Darwin and Perth", McSorley said.
On the day of the Akatsuki Maru's departure, November 7, Cherbourg resembled an invasion zone with thousands of military and police personnel moving around in trucks, riot buses and jeeps.
Two hundred local protesters who had chained themselves in front of the road transport were arrested by riot police.
Just before the freighter's arrival, the Greenpeace ship Moby Dick was boarded by French marines and seized. Commandos kicked down its doors, smashed windows, and threw crew members and several journalists on board to the ground. Guns were pointed at the heads of crew members. The Greenpeace vessel was towed to the military arsenal and the captain detained.
Later the same day, another 14 Greenpeace activists were arrested following an action in which seven inflatables entered the port while the Japanese freighter was being loaded. Climbers scaled a crane close to the military arsenal and hung a banner which read: "STOP PLUTONIUM". Each of the inflatables carried a flag bearing an anti-radiation symbol.
The boats were pursued by French commandos for 20 minutes inside the port. A military helicopter and two naval patrol boats chased a large Greenpeace rigid-hulled inflatable out of the port, the helicopter flying very low over the heads of the crew.
On November 8 the Akatsuki Maru's military escort vessel, Shikishima, rammed the Greenpeace ship Solo. According to the Solo's captain, the Shikishima crashed into the port side of Solo while the two ships were running at a cruising speed of around 14 knots in shipping lanes off the Brittany coast island of Ouessant. This followed a night of intimidation during which the Japanese vessel came dangerously close to Solo, beaming huge searchlights into the bridge, and threatening to board the Greenpeace ship. Soldiers in riot gear lined the Shikishima's decks.
In mid-morning, a French warship, tug and naval plane also started
following the Solo.
"This is an outrageous attack on a peaceful mission", said Greenpeace's Eloi Glorieux from the Solo. "If these are the sorts of lengths the Japanese are prepared to take to protect the secrecy around this deadly cargo, then the world has much to fear."