A delivery of 32 plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel assemblies fabricated by France’s Orano at its Melox plant has arrived at Kansai Electric Power’s Takahama NPP in Japan’s Fukui Prefecture. This was the seventh shipment of MOX to the plant from overseas and the first in about three years.
The fuel was transported by the Pacific Heron and Pacific Egret cargo ships, which departed from the Port of Cherbourg in northwestern France in September. The ships are operated by UK company Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited (PNTL) in which both Orani and Kansai Electric are shareholders. PNTL is operated by Nuclear Transport Solutions, part of the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
While the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan aims to introduce MOX fuel at 12 or more reactors by fiscal 2030, only four reactors currently use the method, including Takahama 3&4. The others are unit 3 at Shikoku Electric Power Co’s Ikata NPP and unit 3 at Kyushu Electric Power Co’s Genkai NPP.
As of the end of October, Kansai Electric was using 24 MOX fuel assemblies and had accumulated 60 used assemblies. The company held some 11.3 tonnes of plutonium domestically and overseas as of the end of 2024.
