• Ar
  • Es
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Feature
Videos
Infographs
In Pictures
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Asia Europe
  4. France to send nuclear fuel to Japan
Asia

France to send nuclear fuel to Japan

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 7 Sep 2022 11:19
  • 1 Shares

Japan is set to receive - in two months time - a shipment of nuclear fuel from France, the eighth in a little over two decades.

  • Japanese workers dismount MOX shipments mounted on a vessel sent from France
    Japanese workers dismount MOX shipments mounted on a vessel sent from France.

A shipment of reprocessed nuclear fuel docked in the early hours of Wednesday at the port city of Cherbourg in France, AFP reported, saying that the ship was bound for Japan to be used in a nuclear power plant.

Japan does not possess facilities that allow it to process its own nuclear waste, sending most of it overseas - France in particular.

The nuclear shipment, composed of highly radioactive Mox, a concoction of reprocessed plutonium and uranium, was transported overnight from a nuclear power plant in the Hague in secure containers mounted on two trucks, the Paris-based nuclear group Orano said.

The convoy arrived around 3:45 am local time at the port surrounded by law enforcement vehicles, the French agency added, citing a photographer at the location.

The load was transported a few hours later to a nuclear-ready ship designed by the UK's PNTL company, which has extensive experience with transporting this type of materials, Orano explained.

The ship will take around two months to dock at its destination in Japan, marking the eighth shipment of the sort from France since 1999.

The last time France sent out a ship bound for Japan and loaded with Mox was in September 2021, prompting environmental group Greenpeace to protest the transaction.

"Transporting such dangerous materials from a nuclear proliferation point of view is completely irresponsible," said Yannick Rousselet of Greenpeace France about Wednesday's shipment.

The concoction in question, Mox, is composed of 92% uranium oxide and 8% plutonium oxide, Orano said. "The plutonium is not the same as that used by the military," the company claimed.

Nuclear power is becoming more popular as countries look for alternatives with the cost of importing energy growing globally and climate crises causing devastation.

The Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011—the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986—led to a drop in nuclear power investment as governments ran terrified and safety concerns grew. However, the tide is now shifting back in favor of nuclear power after Moscow's operation in Ukraine, the ensuing squeeze on energy supplies, and Europe's push to wean itself off of Russian oil and gas.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida two weeks ago called for an initiative to restart the nation's nuclear power sector.

Kishida, at an energy policy meeting, said the war in Ukraine "has vastly transformed the world's energy landscape" and so "Japan needs to bear in mind potential crisis scenarios."

10 of Japan's 33 nuclear reactors are back in service 11 years after the nuclear disaster, albeit not all of them are, and the nation is still highly reliant on imported fossil fuels.

The restart of seven more reactors has received preliminary approval from the national nuclear safety watchdog, although local populations frequently oppose such actions.

  • Japan
  • Russia
  • Fumio Kishida
  • France
  • Fuel shortages
  • Ukraine
  • Nuclear power plant

Trending Now

All
Bide concludes call with allies over Ukraine situation

Biden concludes call with allies over Ukraine situation

Most Read

Haaretz

Mossad agent killed in Italy part of anti-Iran mission: Israeli media

  • Europe
  • 3 Jun
James G. Rickards. (WIkipedia)

Ex-CIA advisor predicts date when US dollar hegemony will collapse

  • Europe
  • 7 Jun
Actuating an Israeli ‘Solution’ – via an al-Aqsa Emergency

Actuating an Israeli ‘Solution’ – via an al-Aqsa Emergency

  • Analysis
  • 4 Jun
Israeli occupation forces are informed of the details of the operation near the Ajwa border crossing in Occuppied Palestine, June 3 2023. (Reuters)

'Unexpected humiliating blow': Israeli media on Egypt border operation

  • Palestine
  • 4 Jun

Read this

All
Israeli occupation forces detain a Palestinian child near Al-Aqsa Mosque, occupied Al-Quds, Palestine, July 17 2017. (AFP)
Palestine

Palestinian child detainees systematically denied their rights: DCIP

  • Today
Former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden addresses attendees through video link at the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon on Nov. 4, 2019  (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File)
US & Canada

Snowden, from exile to The Guardian: No regrets

  • Today
The Iranian Fattah missile (Tasnim)
MENA

Iranian Fattah missile a challenge to Israeli anti-air systems: Media

  • Today
Screengrab from drone video footage showing Ukrainian Leopard tanks getting hit by Russian artillery in the Zaparozhye direction (Social media / Telegram: ZA_FROHT)
Europe

Germany's Leopards, IRIS-Ts not holding up well in Ukraine

  • Today
Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS