CAMPAIGNERS have called for a halt to all plans to transport nuclear products by sea following a fire on board a Danish ship which then drifted towards an oil rig causing it to be evacuated.

The MV Parida, which had left Scrabster harbour, Caithness, in poor weather conditions, was carrying nuclear waste from Dounreay when a fire broke out in one of its funnels.

The threat of the ship being swept on to the Beatrice production platform off the Caithness coast in the early hours of Tuesday morning was deemed serious enough for the evacuation of all the rig's 52 personnel.

The vessel was carrying two flasks each holding three 500-litre drums of intermediate level waste which had were being taken from Dounreay to Antwerp, Belgium.

Lang Banks, director of WWF Scotland said the incident was a clear warning not to transport the more dangerous Dounreay "exotics" (nuclear fuels) to Sellafield in Cumbria by sea, as is currently being considered.

He said: "This latest incident highlights the problems of dealing with the hazardous and expensive radioactive mess that the nuclear industry always leaves in its wake. Given all the severe weather warnings, questions need asked as to why a vessel carrying radioactive material was at sea at all. This should act as a wake-up call to the bosses at Dounreay."

He said any plans to ship the 'exotics' to Cumbria by sea must be sent back to the drawing board.

Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL), who are conducting the decommissioning of the Dounreay site, confirmed that another vessel, The Oceanic Pintail, was in the Pentland Firth last week undergoing trials to see if sea transport is a viable option for taking "exotics" to Sellafield. These contain unirradiated highly-enriched uranium; unirradiated plutonium and irradiated fuels.

A spokesman for Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd said: "Transport is the responsibility of the Belgians. In almost 60 years of nuclear transports from the site, there has never been a release of radioactivity. We are determined to keep that record intact."

The leader of the Highland Council, Councillor Drew Hendry, renewed calls to have two emergency tugs covering the Minch and Northern Isles, reinstating the one the UK Government removed.

Meanwhile Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said he was uncomfortable with the idea of ships with nuclear cargoes waiting for weather windows. "It raises lots of questions how we regulate the transportation of nuclear waste through Scottish waters."

A spokeswoman for the Marine Accident Investigation Branch said the equivalent body in Denmark would be leading the investigation as it was a Danish vessel, and the fire had started outside territorial waters.