Three casks containing compacted metallic waste* will be shipped today from the TN International’s railway terminal in Valognes (France) to the ZWILAG storage facility near Wuerenlingen (Switzerland).
In accordance with commercial contracts signed between the swiss utilities Axpo and BKW and AREVA, part of Leibstadt and Mühleberg nuclear used fuel has been sent to France for recycling. Metallic compacted waste is the result of the nuclear reprocessing process. Its return shipment to Switzerland is dictated by the French law.
The transport cask used to transport the metallic compacted waste fully complies with the very strict regulatory criteria defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Nuclear material transportation is also regulated and overseen by national and international authority agencies in order to guarantee a high level of safety and security.
* The used fuel metallic structures received at AREVA La Hague plant are cut and compacted to reduce their volume by 5. These compacted wastes are then placed into steel containers.