Greenpeace activists set up plutonium checkpoint in Cherbourg

30 September 2004

Stop Plutonium!

This morning Greenpeace activists set up a check point along the route of the U.S. plutonium transport expected in Cherbourg in the next few days.

Banners, flags and a giant inflatable nuclear bomb line the roadside 1km from the military port in Cherbourg. The aim is to alert the French people to the imminent threat posed by the U.S. shipment.

"The nuclear industry may be determined to keep their dangerous plans secret - but the French people deserve to know of the unjustified threat they are under," said Yannick Rousselet of Greenpeace France.

After landing in Cherbourg the plutonium will be transported in highly vulnerable trucks along predictable routes all the way across France to Aix-en-Provence.

Possible transport routes

Regular transports of French plutonium in the past have traveled along the highway from la Hague, via Caen , to Paris and then to Lyon . These transports take between 24 and 36 hours. But in the last six months Areva has opted to take different routes, including to the north east of Paris , and to the south of la Hague via Brittany . There are effectively four options for this latest transport with distances ranging from 1000-1500km. Click here to see a map of the possible routes.

While the exact route the transport will take is unknown, it will undoubtedly travel through highly populated areas along public roads risking accident and deliberate attack.

Plutonium dispersal model

In the event of an accident or deliberate attack resulting in the release of plutonium the effects could be widespread and catastrophic. This computer model gives an example of the possible dispersal area of plutonium powder across France following an accident or deliberate attack on a truck containing 150kg of plutonium. The potential contaminated area is huge. There has been no public information given on what to do in the event of a plutonium release.

Rather than shipping plutonium around the world, presenting a target for terrorists and placing people and the environment en-route at huge risk, Greenpeace believes it should be mixed with highly radioactive waste, solidified or vitrified, and stored. This technically feasible option is opposed by the plutonium industry. I may be less profitable but, would be quicker, minimize transports, cost less and be far more secure.

Stop Plutonium!