BNFL ships have right of passage, says Ahern

The Government has conceded it can do nothing to prevent a controversial shipment of rejected nuclear fuel passing near Ireland so long as the convoy does not enter Irish territorial waters.

The Minister for the Marine, Mr Ahern, said the Government would do "its utmost to ensure that nothing happens" when two ships carrying spent fuel for British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) enter the Irish Sea next month.

However, he said the ships, the Pacific Pintail and the Pacific Teal, have the right of "innocent passage" enjoyed by all seagoing vessels provided they do not enter Ireland's 12-mile territorial waters.

The Minister said his officials were in "ongoing discussions" with the UK authorities about the safety of the two ships, which are en route from Japan. "We have been raising the concerns of the Irish people about these ships," he said yesterday after a visit to the Greenpeace boat, Rainbow Warrior, which is docked in Dublin.

Greenpeace had earlier called on the Government to ensure that the shipment, heading for Sellafield, stays outside Ireland's Exclusive Economic Zone. The zone is bigger than the territorial limit and extends out to between 25 and 200 miles from the coastline.

Greenpeace also wants Naval Service vessels to patrol the boundary of Irish waters as the ships head for the northern English port of Barrow-on-Furness, near Sellafield. The Minister declined to specify how the Naval Service would monitor the convoy but said Greenpeace members were free to raise this matter with his officials.

The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, said he planned to raise Ireland's concerns on nuclear safety at the Earth summit in South Africa. Speaking from Johannesburg, he said he was surprised at the timing of the shipment, due to arrive around the anniversary of September 11th.

The convoy is expected to approach Britain and Ireland around the second week of September. It is carrying MOX (mixed oxide - a blend of uranium and plutonium oxides) fuel rods that were rejected by a Japanese client after BNFL were found to have falsified quality-control records.

Greenpeace plans to lead a flotilla of boats from Britain and Ireland into the Irish Sea when the BNFL ships arrive, but says it will not attempt to block their passage.

"The transport is going to make it to Sellafield, barring accident or terrorist attack. We are not going to interfere with the safe navigation of the ships," said nuclear campaigner Mr Shaun Burnie.

Mr Burnie claimed that thousands of people could contract cancers if plutonium was released from the ships in an accident or terrorist attack. "An incident at sea could have devastating consequences for fishing and tourism. If something happens near land, there would have to be a mass evacuation of the affected territory."

Although the ships are heavily armed, Mr Burnie claims their defences are "wholly inadequate" to meet a potential terrorist threat.

BNFL responded by accusing Greenpeace of "the usual scaremongering". The company again insisted the ships were safe and secured against attack.