Two heavily armed, UK registered ships are currently engaged in the transport of UK sourced plutonium across the Pacific, writes Tim Deere-Jones. Details of their safety inspection records, survey status, voyage routes and location have been suppressed in the interests of security but the lack of transparency breaches a number of international safety standards. The two ships, the Pacific Heron and Pacific Egret are Irradiated Nuclear Fuel (INF3) carriers and owned by the Pacific Nuclear Transport Ltd (PNTL). They are linked to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority which is in turn, sponsored by the UK Dept of Energy and Climate Change. All that was officially stated, is that the two ships left the UK bound for Japan where they will load the plutonium and transport it to the US.
Ecologist 21st March 2016 read more »