Two ships transported by nuclear fuel, a mixture of new uranium and recycled plutonium, abandoned Cherbourg on Saturday, September 6 to Japan, the Orano company announced.
“Pacific Heron and Pacific Egret Specialized ships of the British company PNTL went to the port of Cherbourg on September 6, 2025” and “ensure the transport of recycled nuclear fuel to Mox to Japan,” said French specialist in uranium treatment and nuclear waste.
“Confinement of matter in all circumstances”
According to Orano, the transport of these “four packages that can contain eight Mox fuel sets” should reach Japanese territorial waters “in November.”
Products in the Melox Factory (GARD) Until 2024, these fuel packages are transported in containers that “guarantee the confinement of the material in all circumstances,” says Orano.
The MOX fuel (for the oxide mixture) is on average consisting of a 92% of new uranium oxide, is never used in a reactor, and 8% used plutonium oxide, used in this case in Japanese, then recycled energy plants.
“A dangerous product by itself”
For Yannick Rousselet, nuclear safety consultant for Greenpeace France, “we cannot accept this transport risk in all oceans simply by business.”
According to him, this transport presents a risk “in the earthly part because it is a dangerous product by itself,” but also raises an additional problem because “the planet will cross in the oceans where maritime risk is obviously extremely important.”
According to Mr. Rousselet, Japan sent “2,793 tons of worn fuel” in total to France, 95% of which remains stored in France. “Of the 1,764 medium -sized activity waste containers stored in a bunker in The Hague, we will only send 20 in Japan: nuclear reprocessing in France for Japanese, it is above all a solution to get rid of their waste,” he said.
Source: BFM TV
