Teno slams use of NMI waters to transship radioactive waste

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has assailed the practice of using the CNMI waters for transshipment of nuclear waste without informing the island government because it endangers the people and the environment of the Northern Marianas.

In expressing concern to the devastating effects of an accident while the vessels are passing the CNMI waters, Tenorio urged the Legislature to pass appropriate measures to protect the people’s health and the environment.

“We have always maintained that we should be informed whenever vessels carrying nuclear waste travel close to the CNMI because we want to be prepared in case anything happens,” he said.

The chief executive is worried that while the government has yet to deal with the environmental mess left by the U.S. military in Tanapag, which is facing polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxin contamination, it is to confront a bigger problem. “And now, we are faced with a bigger problem because this issue can cause the death of the whole people on this island and destroy the environment,” Tenorio said.

Earlier, Division of Environmental Quality Director Ike Cabrera has condemned the use of the CNMI waters to transship radioactive waste without even notifying the CNMI government about such shipments.

“The fact that the U.S. Government can ship extremely dangerous radioactive waste within yards of our shoreline without even providing CNMI notification of such shipments is appalling,” said Cabrera.

Over the next 15 years, up to 30 shipments of high-level waste will pass through the South Pacific, en route from France to Japan. Each shipment will carry several heavy metal cylindrical containers (casks), and each cask contains about 575 times the amount of cesium and strontium released by the Hiroshima bomb.

Only a very small percentage of this massive inventory need to be released to cause major contamination of an island. Needless to say, countries along the sea route are most likely not equipped to handle a radiological accident should one take place.

The threat to the Northern Marianas from these transshipments of plutonium and radioactive waste needs immediate attention since the CNMI is prone to typhoons, is strategically located in the Pacific, and is being used for periodic U.S. military activity, Cabrera said.

Article I Section 9 of the Commonwealth Constitution specifically prohibit the storage or dumping of nuclear waste or materials. However, the document is silent with regards to the shipment of nuclear waste through the CNMI waters.

In addition, Section 104 of the Covenant which established CNMI’s political union with the United States, delegates to Washington the complete responsibility of issues involving foreign affairs and defense. This means that US has complete authority whether to allow or not the movement of foreign vessels, including those loaded with nuclear material, within the exclusive economic zone of its territories.

“This political situation puts the Commonwealth at a clear disadvantage compared to other Pacific states with regards to both controlling the movements of ships carrying nuclear waste, and making our voice heard in the international community,” the report said.

Members of the South Pacific Forum have made specific conditions and limitation on the transportation of hazardous material throughout the region under the Waigani Convention.

Although this includes the EEZ of the CNMI, this does not apply to the Northern Marianas since it does not have the legal authority to enter into such treaties.

In case a ship carrying nuclear waste were to either sink or catch fire in the CNMI waters, the entire island would have to be evacuated, and virtually all the residents could expect to die of cancer, said Dr. Marvin Resnikoff of Radioactive Waste Management Associates.