CHERBOURG, France: A shipment of nuclear fuel containing highly radioactive plutonium headed to the French port of Cherbourg overnight Tuesday en route to Japan, according to environmental watchdog Greenpeace, which protested the transport.
Before dawn, an AFP photographer spotted the controversial cargo in transit under heavy security, including a convoy of police vehicles and officers on foot, in the northern town of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.
Anti-nuclear activists, including from Greenpeace, demonstrated against the convoy at a traffic circle as the convoy passed.
Calling mixed oxide (MOX) nuclear fuel a “very dangerous material,” Greenpeace said it should be considered “high-level waste” and not be permitted to leave the country.
Uranium reactors produce a mixture of depleted uranium and plutonium as a by-product of fission. These can be re-processed into MOX fuel, which can then be used in other reactors to generate more power.
This is set to be the seventh shipment of MOX from France to Japan since 1999.
Greenpeace said two English boats will pick up the shipment from Cherbourg.
“The loading will happen on Wednesday ahead of departure to Takahama in Japan,” Greenpeace said, adding that the cargo will power two nuclear reactors in the Japanese city.
Japan has few energy resources of its own and relied on nuclear power for nearly one-third of its domestic electricity needs until the 2011 meltdown at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima plant.
As of March, there were nine nuclear reactors in operation in Japan compared with 54 before the Fukushima accident.
Seventh nuclear shipment to leave France for Japan: Greenpeace
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Seventh nuclear shipment to leave France for Japan: Greenpeace
- This is set to be the seventh shipment of MOX from France to Japan since 1999
Russia military police building collapses near Saint Petersburg, causes unclear: governor
- Sertolovo is a small village just outside Saint Petersburg
- Local media outlet 47news reported that three people died in the incident, citing emergency services
MOSCOW: A Russian military police building collapsed on the grounds of an army base outside Saint Petersburg, the local governor said Tuesday, adding that authorities were probing the causes of the incident.
“I have instructed the security forces to assist the military in clearing the rubble and rescuing victims following the collapse of a military police building on the territory of a military unit in Sertolovo,” governor Alexander Drozdenko said.
“The causes of the incident are being investigated,” he added.
Sertolovo is a small village just outside Saint Petersburg, Russia’s second-biggest city.
Local media outlet 47news reported that three people died in the incident, citing emergency services.
It reported that the collapse was caused by an “explosion.”
The outlet also published an unverified photo purporting to show the building, a grey three-story block with damage visible on at least two floors.
Russia has been regularly hit with sabotage attacks on military bases and civilian infrastructure since the start of its Ukraine offensive nearly four years ago.
Gas leaks are a frequent cause for explosions in Soviet-era buildings in Russia, although authorities gave no immediate indication this was the cause.
