Number: 1999-16
WHEREAS, the shipment of plutonium and nuclear waste creates an inherent increase in the risks associated with plutonium and such waste to the people and environment along the shipping routes; and
WHEREAS, the government of Japan presently ships its nuclear waste to England and France, where it is processed into plutonium and plutonium waste; and
WHEREAS, according to a report of the Consulting Engineers Company (UK), this reprocessing increases the amount of waste by approximately 180 times its original volume; and
WHEREAS, the reprocessed plutonium and plutonium waste is then shipped back to Japan, where it is placed in storage because it has no commercially viable use; and
WHEREAS, the companies involved in these shipments own controlling interests in the company that ships the nuclear waste, plutonium, and plutonium waste; and
WHEREAS, the countries involved in these shipments and the shipping company all refuse to release information about the safety of the shipments; and
WHEREAS, a study of the shipments by a scientist from Princeton University raises significant questions about the safety of the shipments; and
WHEREAS, the countries involved in these shipments and the shipping company refuse to release information about the itineraries for the shipments to countries along the shipping routes, thereby preventing those countries that are potentially affected by such shipments from taking appropriate action to prepare for all contingencies associated with such shipments;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in its Annual Meeting assembled March 18-21, 1999, in Houston, Texas, urges the governments of Japan, England, and France to release all information relating to the safety of the shipments; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that no such marine shipments of plutonium and nuclear waste should be permitted in United States waters including the Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States until such time as (1) a full Environmental Impact Statement relating to the shipments has been prepared and disseminated to the countries affected by such shipments; and (2) the affected countries have had an opportunity to object to such shipments after reviewing the EIS.