MOX-Laden Ships Depart France for Charleston, S.C.

Two ships departed Cherbourg, France, early this morning carrying four rods of mixed-oxide nuclear fuel destined for South Carolina’s Catawba Nuclear Station, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 16).

The Pacific Teal and the Pacific Pintail are outfitted with naval guns and protected by additional armed forces for the trip, according to the French company Areva, which fabricated the U.S. weapon-grade plutonium into the fuel.

The fuel will be tested at the South Carolina nuclear plant. A MOX factory is planned for the Savannah River Site, near Aiken, S.C., to convert military plutonium the United States and Russia agreed to destroy under the terms of a September 2000 accord. Another MOX factory is envisioned for Russia, according to AP (Associated Press/MyrtleBeachOnline.com, March 23).

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