4/18/2008
Press release
Sellafield treatment plant operator Sellafield Limited (formerly British Nuclear Group) has turned over the fabrication of MOX fuel for its electric company customers to AREVA.
Plutonium* will be shipped to La Hague from the Sellafield facility in the U.K. to serve in the fabrication of MOX fuel in AREVA’s Melox plant.** The plutonium will be repackaged at AREVA-La Hague in casks that are compatible with Melox handling equipment, then sent to the Melox plant for MOX fuel fabrication.
The shipments will be handled in compliance with British and French nuclear safety regulations. All transport means, both land and sea, will meet all requirements set by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
*Melox: A facility located in France’s Gard region that produces MOX fuel. MOX is a mixture of plutonium oxide and uranium oxide used to generate electricity. The oxides come from the materials in used nuclear fuel, which is 96% recycled.
**Plutonium is a material with huge energy potential, and can be used to generate electricity. It would take a metric ton of oil to generate the same amount of electricity that can be generated using a single gram of plutonium.