The controversial shipment bringing reprocessed nuclear fuel back to Sellafield passed within 30 miles of the Irish coast as a flotilla of anti-nuclear campaigners protested at its passage through the Irish Sea.
In a brief, non-violent confrontation, half a dozen vessels, including the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior, buzzed around the British Nuclear Fuels Ltd shipment for about half an hour yesterday afternoon.
As promised, the protesters did not attempt to block the passage of the shipment, although some of the boats came within 200 metres of it.
The BNFL boats Pacific Pantail and Pacific Teal used fire hoses to ward off any approach by the flotilla, which unfurled a number of "Irish Sea - Nuclear-free" banners. Armed security personnel stood on the deck but were not deployed.
The standoff took place about 28 miles south of Tuskar Rock in Co Wexford.
Greenpeace activist Mr Shaun Birnie claimed the two ships were headed on a course which would take them to within 13 miles of the Irish coast - one mile outside Irish territorial waters - at the time of the confrontation.
However, once the ships had passed by the protesting flotilla, they changed course towards the British side of the Irish Sea.
"This is a clear sign to the Irish Government that it should mind its own business," said Mr Birnie. "This is Britain saying: 'We'll do as we wish, regardless'.
"We hope the Irish Government is as disgusted by this behaviour as its people are."
Further protests are expected this morning as the BNFL ships arrive in their destination port of Barrow-in-Furness. Another six boats which formed part of the original flotilla diverted to the Cumbrian port on Sunday to take up position for a protest there.
The company plans to unload the nuclear cargo immediately, and it will then be transported by rail to Sellafield.
The BNFL ships were on the final leg of a controversial 18,000-mile journey from Japan. They were transporting five tons of nuclear material containing 255kg of mixed-oxide (MOX) nuclear fuel. A Japanese utility company rejected this in 1999 after BNFL was found to have falsified quality-control data.
The shipment, which has cost the company over £100 million, has been opposed by 80 governments along the route.
The Irish Government has voiced its opposition to the shipment, but says it can do nothing to stop it once the ships stay outside Irish territorial waters.
After yesterday's confrontation, the Irish boats in the flotilla headed home, while the Rainbow Warrior put into Fishguard, en route to Barrow-in-Furness.
Greenpeace says the shipment contains enough plutonium to make 50 nuclear bombs and is open to terrorist attack. It says an accident could result in massive environmental damage to the Irish Sea and the surrounding coastlines, with the possibility of thousands of deaths.
However, BNFL has dismissed these claims, saying the shipment is heavily guarded against attack and accident. It says the fuel being transported could not be readily upgraded for use in a nuclear weapon and would cause no damage even if it escaped into the sea.
Yesterday's nuclear showdown left both sides claiming victory.
With a slight change of course and a throttling up of power, the ships carrying the nuclear cargo easily outpaced the minnows of the anti-nuclear flotilla.
The two BNFL ships were faster, bigger and - if it came to it - better armed than the Greenpeace-led flotilla.
The collection of yachts, powerboats and inflatables was swept aside without the need for intervention by the armed and balaclava-clad security personnel visible on the decks of the Pacific Pantail and the Pacific Teal.
Only five boats in the flotilla came close to the BNFL shipment, and some of these buzzed around for half an hour before being left behind. The two ships had water hoses to ward off the protesters but it never came to a direct confrontation.
