LONDON: Two British ships will slip into the Japanese port of Takahama this week to pick up a cargo of plutonium large enough to make 50 nuclear bombs. The Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal, carrying 225kg of weapons-usable plutonium, will leave Japan bound for Cumbria in the north of England.

Their voyage will face flotillas of furious protesters and risk not only a major diplomatic incident but the threat of terrorism. Former Ministry of Defence senior staff, ex-government nuclear physicists and experts on international terrorism warn that not only is trip absurd in the wake of Sept 11, but also claim that the security is inadequate.

They believe the vessel’s cargo is so prized by terrorists and unfriendly states they will in effect become a “floating target” during their 18,000-mile journey to the port of Barrow-in-Furness. Experts believe Al Qaeda presents the biggest threat to the UK shipment, warning of scenarios where the vessel is not only seized, but attacked by missile or rammed by boat or aircraft.

The ships left Britain five weeks ago under a shroud of secrecy but it has proved impossible to keep their route secret. Today the BNFL boats will enter the North West Pacific Basin, 1,500 miles from their destination. Environmentalists are monitoring their every move. Terrorists may be watching too.

The voyage is acutely embarrassing for Britain. The nuclear fuel in question was shipped to Japan three years ago, but after staff at the government-owned BNFL admitted faking the material’s safety records, Britain was ordered to take back the contentious cargo. Refusal to bring back the shipment would, according to analysts, sabotage around $5.8 billion of investment between the BNFL and Japan as well as jeopardizing the future of the controversial new $690 million Mox (mixed oxide) plant at Sellafield.

Environmentalists blame the UK government’s “flawed” nuclear policies for its decision to press ahead with the risky global trade in reprocessed plutonium and uranium oxide, known as Mox fuel.

Protesters plan a flotilla of more than 100 boats to intercept the nuclear convoy when it moves up the Irish Sea in August — although they will not blockade the ships path. “This plutonium is dangerous enough as it is — we don’t want to do anything to make it more of a risk,” said Andrew Clemence of the Pembrokeshire Anti-Nuclear Alliance, which is organizing the British side of the protests.

He believes the potential for disaster in the Irish Sea, a narrow stretch of water notorious for its sudden storms, strong and unpredictable currents and rocky coasts, remains a real prospect. “If one of those boats breaks down or starts to sink it could pollute these waters for years to come,” he said.

The Irish government is considering a legal attempt to try to stop the shipment from coming into the Irish Sea. Rowan Hand, an amateur sailor, is coordinating the Irish protests. “Our fears are not being taken seriously. This sort of convoy is total madness,” he said.

Yet it is the threat of terrorism that raises most alarm. “Any transportation of that sort of material would need to be safeguarded in a very thorough way,” said Prof Paul Wilkinson, terrorism expert at St Andrews University. “Some organizations would love to get hold of it. Al Qaeda would be really interested in going the whole hog when it comes to nuclear weapons.”

Experts believe there are Al Qaeda cells in at least 50 countries, making it almost impossible for the boat to navigate halfway across the world without coming close to some. William Hopkinson, former Ass-istant Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence, also believes the shipment is coveted by Saddam Hussein. Dr Frank Barnaby, former nuclear physicist with the UK Atomic Weap-ons Establishment, warned that anyone who seized the cargo could easily convert it into nuclear devices within weeks. “Any significant terrorist groups would be able to do this or have sympathizers that could,” he said.

A confidential report by Barnaby to Ministers warns that anyone who obtains Mox fuel would need no more technical knowledge than that used to make the Lockerbie bomb to build an atomic device.

However, the BNFL maintains the vessels are among the most foolproof in the world. The vessels, which are specially strengthened, are equipped with three 30mm cannon, now obscured under tarpaulins, making them the first commercial ships since World War II to be armed. Armed guards are on board.—Dawn/The Observer News Service