During the night of September 5 to 6, 2025, a highly secure convoy moved from the La Hague nuclear power plant to the port of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. It was transporting Mox, a depleted uranium and plutonium fuel, which will now travel across the world to reach Japan on a heavily armed ship.
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Mox is like plutonium, it can be used for military purposes, so the risk is obviously that people want to seize it.
Yannick Rousselet, spokesperson for Greenpeace France
He is concerned about ships traveling… (transcript continues)
Therefore, it obviously raises the issue of the risk that can occur with these boats if ever countries that are not too friendly with us wanted to seize them.
Despite geopolitical unrest, this now maritime convoy has set off to reach Japan, the main and oldest foreign client of Orano. This should not be the last, given the long history between Normandy and the Land of the Rising Sun. Nine transports have already been completed. There are still five more to complete this historic contract signed in 1977.
Will there be more afterwards? What about the future of the Mox industry abroad? Nothing is sealed today. Orano hopes to benefit from a resurgence of the Japanese nuclear industry. In Japan, five reactors can now operate with this nuclear fuel. During the night of September 5 to September 6, 2025, a convoy under very high security moved from the La Hague nuclear power plant to the port of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. It was transporting Mox, a depleted uranium and plutonium fuel, which will now cross the world to reach Japan, on a ship armed like never before.
It is 2 a.m., an impressive procession is entering the port of Cherbourg. It protects at the heart of the convoy four containers, packaging loaded with Mox, depleted nuclear fuel. This is a double-hulled, unsinkable vessel with all essential equipment being redundant, aiming to avoid any issues during the two-month journey to Japan and the Takahama power plant where this recycled fuel will be used to generate low-carbon electricity. Just hours before the start of the convoy operation, activists from the Nuclear Pool Stop collective gathered in Hacqueville, twenty kilometers west of Cherbourg, including Greenpeace France spokesperson Yannick Rousselet.
«The Mox, like plutonium, can be used for military purposes, so the risk is obviously that people would want to seize it,» said Yannick Rousselet. He worries about ships traveling the planet through the oceans. «We know there are serious imbalances in the world today. So, obviously, it raises the issue of the risk that could occur with these ships if countries that are not too friendly with us wanted to seize them.»
Despite geopolitical turmoil, this now maritime convoy has set off to reach Japan, the main and oldest foreign customer of Orano. This should not be the last, given the historical relationship between Normandy and the Land of the Rising Sun. Nine transports have already been completed. There are still five more to complete this historic contract signed in 1977.
Will there be more afterwards? What about the future of the Mox industry abroad? Nothing is set in stone today. Orano hopes to benefit from a resurgence of the Japanese nuclear industry. In Japan, five reactors can currently operate with this nuclear fuel. Chacun d’entre eux peut contenir jusqu’à 400 kg de plutonium. Par conséquent, l’état ne lésine pas sur la sécurité. Le convoi, parti de l’usine Orano de La Hague, a mis environ 1h15 pour parcourir 25 km et rejoindre le port de la capitale du Cotentin. Une traversée à haut risque et sous escorte, avec environ 500 agents des forces de l’ordre mobilisés pour assurer la sécurité.
Une fois arrivé, le convoi a pénétré sur le quai où l’attendait le Pacifique Hon, un navire spécialement conçu pour le transport des matières nucléaires. Selon Jessica Boutteau, directrice des transports et services d’Orano NPS, c’est le plus haut niveau de sécurité avec un navire double coque insubmersible et des équipements redondants.
Malgré les préoccupations géopolitiques, le convoi maritime est en route pour le Japon, principal client étranger d’Orano. Neuf transports ont déjà eu lieu et cinq restent à faire pour achever le contrat historique signé en 1977.
Yannick Rousselet, porte-parole de Greenpeace France, exprime ses inquiétudes quant aux risques liés au transport de matières nucléaires à travers les océans. Il souligne les possibles intentions de certaines parties de s’en emparer pour des fins militaires.
Quant à l’avenir de la filière Mox à l’étranger, rien n’est encore décidé. Orano espère bénéficier d’un retour en grâce de la filière nucléaire au Japon, où cinq réacteurs peuvent fonctionner avec ce combustible nucléaire. Please rewrite this sentence.
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