Japanese diplomats have visited Barrow port and met with representatives of Nuclear Transport Solutions.
Nuclear Transport Solutions has a long-standing relationship with Japan and undertakes many complex nuclear movements to the country. The most recent voyage took 16 MOX fuel assemblies from Cherbourg, France to the Takahama Nuclear Power Station, Japan.
MOX fuel is nuclear fuel made from recycled nuclear waste and this was the eighth voyage of its kind.
Representatives from the Japanese Embassy and Marubeni Corporation were shown around the specialist nuclear vessel Pacific Heron during their visit.
Pete Buchan, Nuclear Transport Solutions shipping director, who welcomed the guests, said: “It’s a huge honour to have such distinguished guests visiting our home port in Barrow.
“We’re really proud of the world-leading work we undertake here and welcome the opportunity to showcase the pride, professionalism and dedication of our crews, while maintaining a close relationship with our Japanese stakeholders and customers.”
Nuclear Transport Solutions’ ships are operated by Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited, which operate three vessels – Pacific Grebe, Pacific Heron, and Pacific Egret.
These vessels are specifically designed to transport nuclear material and have a faultless service record, with PNTL safely covering millions of miles without a single incident resulting in the release of radioactivity.
During the embassy’s visit, the delegation were also taken on a tour of the Sellafield site, where they were shown the site’s High Level Waste Plant.
