A newsbyte was published in Friday, the 19th, online edition of HOY about the passage sometime this coming May of a British ship loaded with atomic (plutonium) cargo through Dominican territorial waters. An expert on atomic energy and relations, Carlos Michelen, had denounced the actions. The ship is coming from France in transit to Japan if that is what I am reasonably able to translate. The concern of the Dominican authorities is that of the safety of the island in the event of a catastrophe befalling the ship. What was mentioned in the article was that in the event of an onboard fire in which involved the cargo, a nuclear cloud could be released and would reach the Dominican coastline within a half hour. The prevailing winds would have the cloud cover the island in two days. Japan said it has no capacity to be able to respond immediately to such an event. What is interesting the article mentioned there was a previous voyage this last February and it appears (to me) the information about that transit is just being made known now and is so many words that the Chancellery (government) is doing an inadequate job protecting the republic, don?t want to offend the Japanese tourist business.
The article goes on to say to suggest a Dominican Naval escort for the vessels and cautions that Caribbean area is one of the most densely populated areas in the world with each nation practically side by side and asked Japan how would Europe react to this situation if these ships passed through the Mediterranean.
My thought considering terrorism and security concerns, is how dumb of these folks to even consider a passage in the Caribbean for transit through the Panama Canal. Think of the ramifications of a nuclear catastrophe in the canal or offshore from the D.R. Best to keep the ship(s) on the open seas and out of harms way. The D.R. has enough to be confused about.
The thought of banana trees that glow in the dark I hope is the result of a bad dream rather than that of reality. Regards, PJT
The article goes on to say to suggest a Dominican Naval escort for the vessels and cautions that Caribbean area is one of the most densely populated areas in the world with each nation practically side by side and asked Japan how would Europe react to this situation if these ships passed through the Mediterranean.
My thought considering terrorism and security concerns, is how dumb of these folks to even consider a passage in the Caribbean for transit through the Panama Canal. Think of the ramifications of a nuclear catastrophe in the canal or offshore from the D.R. Best to keep the ship(s) on the open seas and out of harms way. The D.R. has enough to be confused about.
The thought of banana trees that glow in the dark I hope is the result of a bad dream rather than that of reality. Regards, PJT
