Environment Minister Dennis Lister said he will not let a shipment of nuclear waste, dubbed a mini-Chernobyl, come into Bermuda's waters.

And he said the route was set to take it off at a comfortable distance away from the Island.

Mr. Lister was responding to concerns raised by Opposition spokeswoman Kim Young who called on Government to protest to Britain over the shipment of 152 canisters of high level nuclear waste.

Environmentalists fear the ship could be a sitting duck to terrorists on its way from France to Japan through the Caribbean Sea and Panama Canal.

But Mr. Lister said: "We looked into it and we are well comfortable it won't come within our territorial waters, if it was they would have put in a formal request.

"At this point there has been no request, that's an indication it's far enough outside Bermuda's territorial waters.

"We are keeping an active interest in it."

Bermuda's waters extend 12 miles out to sea. Asked if this was sufficient distance Mr. Lister added: "They are passing to the south south-east of us.

"As time progresses these things get confirmed. If it becomes a concern we will take the necessary steps to prevent that."

Asked what would happen if a storm ravaged the ship Mr. Lister said: "We won't allow it to come within our waters, our concern will be to assist the crew."

He said Bermuda did not have the capability to deal with nuclear emergencies but would allow experts to base themselves on the Island and be ferried out to the ship.

The environmental watchdog group Greenpeace, claim that even the release of a small fraction of the cargo could lead to an environmental and public health catastrophe.

Greenpeace say the waste is among the most radioactive material ever produced and would be a deadly pollutant for hundreds of thousands of years if released into the environment.