Vitrified waste shipment from the UK to Switzerland: departure from Valognes

As announced by AREVA and International Nuclear Services (INS), a shipment of vitrified nuclear waste from the United Kingdom to Switzerland is currently under way. The journey involves a stage by sea from the United Kingdom to France, which has already been completed, and a stage by land in France and Switzerland. The rail shipment is set to depart today from the AREVA rail terminal in Valognes (Manche, France). Its destination is an interim storage site in Switzerland.

Carrying the shipment of four transport casks, each loaded with 28 canisters of vitrified waste, the vessel Oceanic Pintail arrived at the port of Cherbourg (Manche, France) from the United Kingdom on Monday 10 October 2016. The transport casks were then unloaded for transportation to Switzerland by rail.

This shipment meets current national and international regulations regarding nuclear safety. The transport casks used comply with International Atomic Energy Agency safety standards and are designed to ensure the protection of people and the environment under all circumstances.

INS, a subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), a British governmental agency, is responsible for this shipment. It has contracted with AREVA TN, AREVA’s Nuclear Logistics business, to safely manage the ground transportation in France.