Plutonium threat assessment

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Will the shipment of plutonium-uranium mixture called MOX, scheduled to pass through Montreal this summer, pose a threat to the public?

"You could stop the radioactivity from MOX with a piece of paper," answers Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) spokesperson Larry Shewchuk. "The case that the rods are in is so secure that the shipment could withstand a head-on collision with a truck full of dynamite."

The plutonium will come from a Russian nuclear warhead, one of thousands to be destroyed under an arms reduction agreement with the USA. Experts fear that plutonium from dismantled Russian missiles might be stolen and used to create nuclear or radioactive weapons by terrorists or rogue states.

This shipment--the timing of which is confidential--is part of a program to test plutonium as fuel for nuclear reactors on a commercial basis.

"What I think is unethical about those protesting it is they say they want to end nuclear weapons. But they are opposing a program that is designed to do just that," Shewchuk says.

But opponents to the MOX program say it sets a dangerous precedent.

"We obtained documents through Access to Information saying the Canadian government plans to bring in tonnes of plutonium," says Gordon Edwards of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. "We could have enough plutonium on the roads in any given month to build six nuclear bombs. That amount could make Canada a magnet for criminals and terrorists." :

--John Edmonds

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