Japanese protest plutonium shipment

OMAEZAKI, Japan: An armed vessel with a load of recycled nuclear fuel from France arrived amid heavy security yesterday at a Japanese port where it was greeted by dozens of protesters.

The Pacific Heron - carrying a British police team to head off possible hijackers on its secretive two-month voyage - delivered a load of mixed-oxide or MOX fuel, a blend of plutonium and reprocessed uranium.

Several dozen anti-nuclear activists and concerned residents rallied at a pier of the Omaezaki fishing port as the ship docked under heavy police guard and cranes unloaded metal containers of the nuclear fuel.