“This shipment represents the culmination of decades of UK expertise, investment and commitment to safely return high-level waste to its country of origin,” Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS) said. “It reflects sustained collaboration between NTS, Sellafield Ltd and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), and demonstrates the UK’s role as a trusted and responsible international partner.”
The final shipment saw seven flasks transported from Sellafield to Barrow via rail, as part of an integrated logistics, operation and then loaded onto PNTL vessel Pacific Grebe for the sea journey to Germany. Three dedicated rail movements transported the material to the port on specially engineered wagons. Each flask, weighing more than 100 tonnes, was then precisely lifted and loaded onto the vessel using the port’s specialist heavy-lift crane.
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The Pacific Grebe (Image: NDA)
The seven Flasks were unloaded gradually after their arrival on 16 June at the north German port of Brunsbüttel and transported to the interim storage facility at the Brokdorf nuclear power plant site the following day.
The first shipment of high-level waste from the UK – comprising six flasks – was delivered to the Biblis site in 2020. The second shipment of seven flasks, to Isar, was completed in 2025.
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The shipment arrives at the Brokdorf site (Image: PreussenElektra)
“This is a significant moment in the delivery of our mission, it marks the completion of our obligation to repatriate this waste, reducing the UK’s long-term nuclear liabilities and delivering on government policy commitments,” said NDA CEO David Peattie. “This has been a complex, multi-year effort, delivered through strong collaboration across the NDA group and is a testament to our world-leading nuclear expertise and capabilities.”
“Our thanks go to all partners involved – especially our subsidiary GNS Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service, Orano NCS, BGZ Gesellschaft für Zwischenlagerung, and other partners in England and Germany – for the professional preparation and safe execution of this transport,” said Guido Knott, Chairman of the Management Board of PreussenElektra. “Special thanks go to the Itzehoe Police Directorate, which led the operation, and to the emergency services who escorted and secured the transport. I would also like to emphasise the close and trusting cooperation with the relevant licensing and regulatory authorities, which contributed significantly to the successful outcome.”
Until 2005, German utilities shipped used fuel from nuclear power plants to La Hague in France and Sellafield in the UK for reprocessing and recycling. The utilities have contractually committed to taking back waste from the reprocessing of their fuel elements abroad. Furthermore, there are international agreements between Germany and the UK that ensure this takeback.
PreussenElektra – a subsidiary of EOn Group that is responsible for the decommissioning of eight nuclear power plants in Germany – noted the latest shipment completes the return to Germany of all waste from the reprocessing of German fuel elements abroad. Between 1996 and 2011, 108 containers were transported from the La Hague plant in France to the Gorleben site. The return shipments from France ended in November 2024 with four containers to Philippsburg.
