Shipment of nuclear waste

"Following the statement that the nuclear waste shipment will be travelling through the South Pacific I asked the Acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade to talk again to the Japanese Ambassador" Foreign Minister Don McKinnon said today. "I want to be sure that the points I made in my statement yesterday have been registered by the Japanese Government, and I asked the Acting Secretary to reaffirm New Zealand's position with the Ambassador."

Yesterday Mr McKinnon expressed his extreme disappointment at the news that the shipment of vitrified high level nuclear waste would pass through the South West Pacific, and reiterated his call for confirmation of the ship's route and an assurance from the Japanese Government that it would not enter New Zealand's EEZ.