Radioactivity

OSPAR is an International Cooperation Convention dedicated to the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, which came into effect in 1998. France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Iceland , Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the European Union are members, as well as Luxembourg and Switzerland due to the influence that the rivers flowing through them have on the Atlantic. Robin des Bois (Robin Hood) has had observer status at the OSPAR Commission since 2005.

Areva, a modern day pirate, keeps up maritime expeditions carrying nuclear fuels and fissile materials. The Pacific Egret is a military ship painted in blue. She disconnected her AIS on the 13th of June, 2017. An AIS (Automatic Identification System) allows one to know the position and route of a ship and is essential for maritime safety. There are no surface ships of the French Navy that currently transport cargo and a weapon as formidable as that of The Pacific Egret. Several options are possible for the seagoing voyage from Cherbourg to Japan. Once used in the bygone days of Noriega for sensitive nuclear material, the Panama Canal is no more a viable option for political reasons. Crossing the South Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and South Pacific is now the most classic way to go. With the agreement of Vladimir Putin, the Arctic North-East passage off Siberia cannot be completely excluded as an option either.

Next week, MOX fuel will be loaded in Cherbourg onto the Pacific Egret or onto the Pacific Heron with the destination of the Takahama nuclear plant in Japan. MOX contains 10% plutonium and 90% uranium.

This voyage of dangerous fissile materials across the worldwide oceans causes tension and poses risks all along the track. The point of the refuge port in case of damage or fire has yet to be solved. The ability of the modest ships from Pacific Nuclear Transport Ltd to resist cyclones, tsunamis, and North Korean missiles has not been demonstrated either.

The vessel confines nuclear fire. Flamanville’s EPR* vessel in the Manche department in Western France would be subject during its 60 years life time planned by EDF and AREVA to considerable thermal, hydraulic, mechanic, and neutronic stresses. The vessel does not have to be strong; it has to be indestructible.

“The nuclear safety demonstration excludes the breakage of the vessel because no reasonable provision to restrict consequences for the reactor management, for personnel, the population and environment can be defined ” (source: report from Monitoring Group “EPR Vessel” of HCTISN, Haut Comité pour la Transparence et l’Information sur la Sécurité Nucléaire, High Committee for Transparency and Information on Nuclear Safety).

As Robin des Bois published in its quarterly bulletin “Shipbreaking” #47, in its kilometres of pipes the North Sea Producer contains radium scales. Radium is naturally present in the underwater substratum, the exploitation of gas and oil concentrates the radium in the pipes and tanks. Radium scales are highly toxic through inhalation and contact. For example, during the maintenance and dismantlement of the Lacq gas field in France, Total Production produced more than 2000 tons of metal contaminated by Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material. The official destination of this waste was the Soulaines storage center in Aube department under the responsibility of ANDRA, the National Agency for the Management of Radioactive Waste. Norway exploits a storage center for radioactive residuals from the petroleum offshore industry.

Only in French.

Only in French.

After unloading on December 5 in Australia what she had loaded on October 14 in France, the BBC Shanghai, an occasional nuclear waste carrier, is now heading for Shanghai. Her owner is German. She is flying the Antigua & Barbuda flag. Her profile is alarming. As soon as she is calling in a port, the BBC Shanghai is targeted by maritime authorities and submitted to a detailed inspection.

Please refer to Robin des Bois press releases :
Radioactive waste – Robin des Bois (Robin Hood) is calling for an intervention by the Australian and French governments, October 10, 2015. 7:45 pm
Radioactive waste – BBC Shanghai at Cherbourg, October 14, 2015
And the map « Das Bato », October 15, 2:00 pm on the performances of the BBC Shanghai

Subject: Radioactive waste – Cherbourg => Australia. 25,000 km to Port Kembla, near Sydney.

Panorama of the performances of BBC Shanghai, German shipowner, German classification society (Germanischer Lloyd).

« The company and the ship meet all current national and international regulations concerning nuclear safety » according to AREVA.

The BBC Shanghai is hunt down throughout the world. Cherbourg let her go with a shipment of nuclear waste.

A post-Fukushima realtime test is underway at the Areva reprocessing plant in La Hague, near Cherbourg. Safety is the priority, according to the director of the La Hague nuclear site.

In the same time, the BBC Shanghai is docked at Areva’s terminal in the Cherbourg harbor. She is preparing to be loaded with radioactive waste resulting from reprocessing of Australian spent fuel. This isn’t simulation, but the truth, a sad truth that is a significant safety risk. The most recent bad news to add to the BBC Shanghai’s heavy « criminal record » are 4 deficiencies on August 6, 2015 at Busan, South Korea and 6 deficiencies in Russia on August 11. The Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding, an Asia-Pacific regional agreement on maritime security, classifies the BBC Shanghai as a high-risk ship. Australia, the BBC Shanghai’s country of destination, is a signatory of the Tokyo Memorandum.