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Preparations for HAW returns
Preparations are currently underway to make the second return of solid Highly Active Waste (HAW) from the UK to Japan.
To date, Sellafield Ltd and International Nuclear Services have successfully completed the first shipments of solid HAW to Japan and Holland safely and to schedule.
The second shipment to customers in Japan, comprising three flasks, is scheduled to take place in the second half of 2011.
We are returning HAW to customers in accordance with contractual obligations and UK government policy. Current UK policy states that waste arising from contracts for reprocessing signed with overseas customers since 1976 is to be returned to the customer of origin.
The canisters of HAW will be retrieved from the Vitrified Product Store at Sellafield, loaded into purpose-built transport flasks and transported by rail to Barrow for onward shipment to their final destination.
The ships, which are operated by International Nuclear Services, have safely covered more than five million miles without a single incident resulting in the release of radioactivity. Over 2,000 flasks of nuclear material have been safely transported.
