Nuclear protest flotilla meets in Holyhead

BNFL has declined to provide details of the shipment journey, citing security considerations. The two ships are carrying mixed oxide (MOX) nuclear fuel, which is being returned by a Japanese client of the company after BNFL was found to have falsified quality control data.

A Greenpeace-led flotilla of yachts and boats is gathering in Holyhead this weekend to prepare for a protest against a shipment of rejected nuclear fuel which is due to arrive off the Irish coast within the next few days.

Over 20 vessels are expected to sail out to meet the two ships transporting rejected nuclear fuel to the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria. The flotilla, which includes a number of Irish politicians and celebrities, plans to protest at the nuclear shipment but will not attempt to block the British Nuclear Fuels shipment.

Greenpeace expects the two BNFL ships to arrive near Irish waters tomorrow or Monday morning. Environmental activists spotted the convoy on Thursday off the coast of Portugal, about 900 miles south of Ireland.

The two ships, the Pacific Pintail and the Pacific Teal, are being escorted by a warship, probably from the British navy, according to Mr Shaun Birnie, of Greenpeace.

The ships are expected to pass up the Irish Sea on their way to the port of Barrow-on-Furness, near Sellafield. However, Mr Birnie admitted that there was "a possibility" that they could attempt to evade the protest by taking a route up the west coast of Ireland and Northern Ireland in order to reach their destination.

"All we know is that they'll try to dodge us. They can run, though, but they can't hide." The use of such a route would have major implications for the west and for the north and would raise "all hell" in Scotland, he said.

Yesterday, the company again challenged Greenpeace on the environmental organisation's claims about the safety of the shipment. It said the "scaremongering" claims made by anti-nuclear groups had "no basis in reality".

"Such claims are designed to alarm and mislead the public and their consistent repetition does not make them any less false," said a spokesman Mr Paul Vallance.