Editorial: Falling again for nuclear hysteria

The very word nuclear continues to induce a certain hysteria in this country. The word need not refer to weapons to have that effect; nuclear power, nuclear reactors, even irradiation of food, have encountered fevered opposition here. Now two British ships carrying nuclear fuel from Europe to Japan threaten to pass through the Tasman Sea and the Government is doing everything it can to see they do not come into our 200-mile zone.

Isn't this just a little precious? Foreign Governments, long acquainted with New Zealand's commitment to a non-nuclear defence posture, must nevertheless be mildly surprised to receive diplomatic approaches asking that this shipment steers clear of our economic zone. The fuel, mixed uranium and plutonium oxide, is destined for the Tokyo Electric Power Company. In a world well accustomed to nuclear power generation, our sensitivity must seem extreme.

There are widespread concerns about the safe disposal of nuclear waste, and the costs of doing so are deterring further nuclear development in many places. But reprocessed fuel is not waste and these ships are not disposing of anything. They are carrying fuel, carefully contained, to a country that is not as blessed as we are with hydro and mineral alternatives.

The Government can do no more than ask that the ships stay outside our exclusive economic zone. The Law of the Sea does not permit countries to forbid transit in their zones, although the Green Party has a bill before Parliament which apparently presumes to extend the previous Labour Government's nuclear prohibition out to the 200-mile limit.

The present Government is probably not going to entertain a bill that would contravene the Law of the Sea but it would rather not have the issue brought to a head in this way. The last thing it will want is a well-publicised shipment of radioactive fuel passing through its exclusive economic zone, hindered only by the stunts of Greenpeace.

It is likely that protesting small craft will be out in the Tasman to harass the ship regardless of whether it enters anybody's economic zone. That provides the Government with an excuse to have the Navy shadow the fuel carrier through the Tasman. Air Force surveillance, which the Government says it will consider in the event that the two ships come into the Tasman, might not be enough if protesters are determined to put themselves in danger.

It could claim to be acting out of concern for the safety of protesters, the ships and the country, although it is hard to believe that Foreign Minister Phil Goff or anybody else seriously fears the ship will suffer a mishap capable of contaminating the region. The shippers say the material is enclosed in 80 to 100-tonne steel casks, the ships have been designed for this purpose and have travelled 4.5 million miles without an accidental release of radioactivity. Against that, Mr Goff finds it telling that the companies will not indemnify New Zealand against the risk that an accident could harm its clean, green image.

The companies, of course, acknowledge that accidents can happen - nothing in life is ever without risk - but they say these ships are as safe as they can be. An official inquiry into nuclear-powered warships visiting this country once said exactly the same. That assurance cut no ice in this country's politics at that time, and probably nothing has changed.

The N-word is still the last word here.