- MOX Fuel Contracts: Orano signed two contracts with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) to produce 64 MOX fuel assemblies for Japanese nuclear reactors, with 40 assemblies for the Genkai plant and 24 for the Ikata plant.
- Recycling and Sustainability: MOX fuel, a mix of recycled plutonium and uranium, is a sustainable alternative to low-enriched uranium. Orano’s recycling process supports responsible fuel management, with nearly 97% of the radioactivity from past fuel reprocessed at Orano’s La Hague plant already returned to Japan.
- Japan’s Carbon Neutrality Goals: Japan’s investment in MOX fuel and nuclear fuel reprocessing aligns with its carbon-neutrality goals, aiming for a 46% reduction in emissions by 2030 and a net-zero economy by 2050, using nuclear energy as a key part of the strategy.
Orano, a French nuclear fuel cycle corporation, announced that it has signed two contracts with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), a Japanese industrial group, to produce 64 mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel assemblies for Japanese nuclear reactors. This follows MHI’s earlier announcement of orders from Kyushu Electric Power Company and Shikoku Electric Power Company to produce MOX fuel assemblies for two Japanese nuclear reactors.
MOX fuel is a type of nuclear fuel which combines recycled plutonium from used reactor fuel with natural, depleted, or reprocessed uranium, and is an alternative to low-enriched uranium (LEU), typically used in light-water reactors. Since 1972, 44 global nuclear reactors have used MOX fuel to generate electricity.
Orano will produce a total of 64 MOX fuel assemblies—40 for Unit 3 of the Genkai plant and 24 for Unit 3 of the Ikata plant. MHI will design the MOX fuel, with components such as cladding tubes being manufactured by Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel Co., a subsidiary of MHI. Orano will then complete the MOX fuel assemblies at its Melox plant in France.
Shikoku Electric Power Company has reached an agreement with other Japanese utilities, including Tohoku Electric, Chubu Electric, Tokyo Electric, Hokuriku Electric, and Japan Atomic Power Company, to transfer plutonium held in the UK to an equal amount of plutonium held by a French company. This agreement will help facilitate the production of MOX fuel for the Ikata 3 reactor.
Orano’s senior executive vice president of the Recycling Business Unit, Corinne Spilios, expressed pride in the collaboration, stating, “We are very proud of our Japanese partners’ renewed confidence in our expertise. This choice underlines the relevance of recycling for our customers as a responsible and sustainable solution for managing their used fuel.”
On 29 November, MHI also signed contracts to return nuclear waste stored at Orano’s La Hague plant in France to Japan, in line with commitments made under previous contracts from 1981 to 1999. These agreements involved the reprocessing of 2,793 metric tons of used nuclear fuel, with nearly 97% of the radioactivity already returned to Japan, reflecting successful efforts to manage and recycle nuclear materials.
Japan has set ambitious carbon-neutrality goals, aiming to reduce current emissions by 46% to pre-2013 levels, with an aspirational target of 50%, and to become a net-zero green economy by 2050. Their investment in nuclear fuel reprocessing and the use of MOX fuel are seen as key factors of this strategy, as nuclear energy offers a carbon-free, sustainable energy source that can help meet these climate goals.
