Flotilla Action boosts anti-Sellafield Activism

international | environment | feature Thursday September 12, 2002 03:30 by IMC Editorial Group - IMC Ireland

Boats from Ireland, Wales, England and the Isle of Man joined Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior to meet two BNFL ships carrying 255 Kg of Mixed Oxide (MOX) nuclear fuel which had been rejected by the company's Japanese customers. After meeting in Holyhead the boats split into two groups, one heading north to wait for the BNFL ships in Barrow, close to the Sellafield facility, and the other heading south to meet the ships on the high seas. Both groups were successful and their message of protest was delivered loud and clear.

While the Flotilla was preparing to deliver a message to the MOX ships, activists staged a land-based protest by chaining themselves to the roof of the Sellafield visitors centre. Earlier a 40-strong group organised by Gluaiseacht travelled to Sellafield to voice their opposition to the plant.

Recent weeks have seen huge difficulties for BNFL and the British nuclear industry. British Energy, Britain's main operator of nuclear power stations, is effectively bankrupt while BNFL's biggest customer for it's MOX business, Tokyo Electric, has been found to be falsifying safety data and has suspended its MOX programme indefinitely. Meanwhile a MORI opinion poll indicates that 72% of the British public want government subsidies to go to Wind and renewable energy and not to the nuclear industry.

The success of the flotilla action and the corporate media attention that it generated has highlighted the problems that BNFL is facing and has boosted the spirits of anti-Sellafield activists. Further actions against Sellafield are already being discussed and planned, and the struggle against Sellafield and the British nuclear industry is likely to intensify in the months ahead.

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