Posted
15th May 2001
GP Evidence For Nuclear Free Zones Act Greenpeace has brought
John Large from the UK to New Zealand to appear before the Foreign
Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee hearings on the New Zealand
Nuclear Free Zone Extension Bill on May 17th. Greenpeace is
making submissions in support of the Greens bill to extend New
Zealand's nuclear free zone from 12 miles out to the 200 mile
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). John Large is an independent
nuclear engineer with expertise in the area of the risks and
hazards associated with the sea transport of nuclear materials,
specifically plutonium MOX. He will be giving evidence to the
Committee on the specific risks that an accident involving plutonium
MOX fuel poses for both the health of New Zealanders and their
environment. John Large will be suppporting Greenpeace's submission
that proposes a legal regime to protect New Zealand's EEZ from
the threat posed by the increasing number of nuclear fuel shipments
transiting the Tasman en route from Europe to Japan.
During his career John has worked for a number of government
agencies including the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the Russian
Minatom as well as working with NGOs such as Greenpeace. He
has consulted on a number of accidents at sea involving nuclear
propelled and armed vessels and is currently advising the Gibraltan
authorities on the status of the UK nuclear submarine, the Tireless,
when a structural design fault forced it to dock in Gibraltar
last May. New Zealand and Australia have no off site emergency
plans in place if an accident involving the nuclear fuel shipments,
particularly a release of plutonium into the atmosphere, occurred
off our coast. John Large's experience with the nuclear industry
spans thirty years and covers most areas from nuclear reactor
safety, through to the transport of nuclear materials, nuclear
weapons and the decommissioning of facilities.
John
Large will appear before the select committee Thursday 17th
May, 9.30 in room GOO5, Old Parliament House He will be in Wellington
till Saturday morning, and is available for media interviews.
For further information contact: Greenpeace communications officer,
Brendan Lynch 025 790 817 Nuclear campaigner, Bunny McDiarmid
021 450 339
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