7 Feb (NucNet): A railway shipment of about 6.4 tonnes of used nuclear fuel from the Netherlands has arrived at Orano’s railway terminal in Valognes, northern France, to be treated at the company’s La Hague facility before recycling.
Orano said the shipment left a railway terminal near the Borssele nuclear power station in the Netherlands on 5 February and arrived at the terminal in France yesterday.
The transport, composed of three shipping casks of used fuel, was related to a contract signed with Borssele owner and operator EPZ in 2011 for the recycling of 216 tonnes of used fuel from the 482-MW pressurised water reactor unit.
Since an initial contract was signed with EPZ in 1978, more than 350 tonnes of used nuclear fuel has been delivered to La Hague and about 346 tonnes has already been treated.
The used fuel contains 96% of materials that can be recycled through treatment-recycling operations, Orano said. The 4% of final waste will be vitrified before being returned to the Netherlands.
