April 7, 2000 - A federal judge has rejected an anti-nuclear coalition's motion to block an American-funded shipment of Russian plutonium to Canada, saying he lacked the jurisdiction to act.

On March 21, 2000,  Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, Physicians for Social Responsibility and Nuclear Information and Resource Service joined the plaintiffs who sued the US Department of Energy to stop a U.S.-Russian-Canadian plan to use nuclear weapons plutonium as fuel in nuclear power reactors. 

NIRS, PSR and BREDL had joined Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination, Mohawk Council of Akwasasne, the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians, Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County, Northwatch, the Canadian Council for Nuclear Responsibility, and individuals in that request.

The group of Canadian and American activists had argued that the Parallex Project violated an arms control agreement signed by the U.S government, but Chief Judge Richard Enslen said the issue was irrelevant.

"The judicial courts have nothing to do with this," Enslen said, after pointing out that treaties are between governments, not private citizens and governments.

"We're disappointed, but I'm not sure what we'll do next," said Terry Lodge, a lawyer for the coalition.

The government said it was pleased with the decision and the project would go forward.

Enslen said he remains convinced the Department likely violated the law by conducting a limited environmental study, but that violation would not be enough to stop the project given its importance to national security.

The Chalk River test, named "Parallex," was first challenged in court last December when plaintiffs in Michigan and Canada sued the U.S. Department of Energy to halt shipment of the U.S. MOX fuel from being trucked from New Mexico to Ontario until there was a formal, public decision making process over the environmental and nuclear weapons proliferation impacts of the program.

sources: BREDL press release, AP reports