 Radio Script 2001 __________________ Nuke Plan Threatens Arctic
STORY: On January 19, the armed British freighter Pintail left the French port of Cherbourg loaded with MOX fuel, a mixture of highly radioactive plutonium and uranium oxide. The ship rounded Africa's Cape Horn this week and will pass between New Zealand and Australia before arriving in Japan in late March, where Japanese officials say the fuel will be fed into a nuclear reactor. Earlier shipments of MOX fuel from Europe, as well as nuclear waste from Japan, have raised concern among some 50 countries along the ship's route. Now, under a plan being negotiated between the Japanese government and Russia's Murmansk Shipping Company, future such shipments would go through the Arctic, where presumably there are fewer people to protest. Apparently, no one considered George Ahmaogak, mayor of the North Slope Borough in Barrow, Alaska, a community of Inupiat Eskimos along Alaska's Arctic Ocean coast. AHMAOGAK: "For a period of time, we've been dealing with a lot of pollution that has circulated here on the Arctic coast, especially in our ocean. This proposal to ship nuclear waste is something we certainly don't agree with." According to Russia's St. Petersburg Times, the Murmansk Shipping Company plans to test the Arctic Ocean shipping route this summer. The ship won't carry nuclear material, but is designed to explore the feasibility of shipping through the Arctic's ice-filled waters. The first shipment of MOX fuel could begin as early as 2002. Mayor Ahmaogak says he'll be watching. AHMAOGAK: "If this pilot test program takes place, we're going to monitor that ship when it crosses the polar Arctic. It's a concern and we don't want to see any contaminants or accidents." Ahmaogak isn't alone in his concern over a potential nuclear accident in the Arctic. Officials in Norway and Greenland have made public their concerns over the proposal. The environmental group Greenpeace also has launched a campaign to point out the dangers. Damon Moglen is a nuclear campaigner with Greenpeace International. MOGLEN: "There are all kinds of scenarios in which you can imagine the containers are broken open and either in a fire situation and the material is spewed out into a plume, or the material itself is dumped into the water and begins to circulate. Certainly it could destroy any fisheries, or any kind of hunting or gathering in the area. You could really have a catastrophe." Over the past decade, 160 shipments of spent uranium fuel were sent from Japan to Europe for reprocessing into MOX fuel. The fuel is returned to Japan in molten glass tubes housed inside large stainless steel casks. According to the French energy company COGEMA, one ship each year would make the voyage to Japan carrying the fuel. MOX fuel has been used for more than 30 years to power reactors in England, France, Germany, and Belgium. More recently, the nuclear power community has promoted plutonium-based MOX fuel as a way to eliminate surplus U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons. Once converted, the plutonium would be unsuitable for making nuclear weapons. Dr. Andy Klein is head of nuclear engineering at Oregon State University. KLEIN: "That's absolutely true. You can take weapons-grade plutonium and mix it with uranium and then it becomes a mixed oxide fuel, or MOX fuel, and you can use it in a nuclear reactor to generate electricity and get a useful product out of Cold War material." However, such plans are opposed by safe energy advocates, nonproliferation proponents, and environmental organizations that cite the increased risks of using plutonium as a fuel. Greenpeace's Damon Moglen. MOGLEN: "That's a bit like saying we're going to use dynamite in a Model-T Ford. It just doesn't make any sense. Plutonium is extremely expensive, far more expensive than uranium, and much more dangerous to use." Under the agreement now being negotiated with Russia, the Murmansk Shipping Company may transport up to 600 tons of spent uranium fuel from Japan to Europe through the Arctic over the next ten years. After reprocessing, the highly radioactive plutonium oxide would return to Japan over the same route. Dr. Klein says that while nuclear materials have inherent risks, there are safeguards. KLEIN: "It's probably the most watched-after shipment of any material on the planet. " In Alaska, Mayor George Ahmaogak is considering just what he'll do about the possibility that such ships will pass close to his community. AHMAOGAK: "If there is an opportunity as a municipal government representing the North Slope of Alaska to protest and convince our state government, then we'll certainly consider that. But even if we don't, I'm sure the other international communities and aboriginal peoples such as in Canada and Greenland are certainly going to remark about this plan and probably protest." OUTRO:This is Arctic Science Journeys Radio, a production of the Alaska Sea Grant Program and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. I'm Doug Schneider. Audio version and related Web sites Thanks to the following individuals for help preparing this script:
George Ahmaogak, Mayor
Damon Moglen, nuclear campaigner
Dr. Andy Klein Arctic Science Journeys is a radio service highlighting science, culture, and the environment of the circumpolar north. Produced by the Alaska Sea Grant College Program and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
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Listen to story on RealAudio Related Web sites U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Citizen's Nuclear Information Center (Japan) Terms: MOX—Mixed plutonium and uranium oxide fuel. Nuclear fact: In the United States, there are currently 104 commercial nuclear power reactors licensed to operate in 31 states. In 1997 U.S. electric generating capability totaled approximately 610 gigawatts. Nuclear energy accounted for approximately 20 percent of this capability. Source: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Agency
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