The non-governmental organization Greenpeace called on the French government yesterday, Tuesday, to end «uranium trade agreements» between France and Russia, as deliveries continue despite the war, in the absence of international sanctions targeting Russia’s nuclear energy sector.
In a press release issued by Greenpeace, the organization «demands a definitive end to all trade in nuclear fuel with Russia.».
The NGO is also calling for «the cancellation of all current contracts between the French nuclear energy industry and Rosatom (the Russian giant in the sector) as well as its subsidiaries,» starting «with the uranium trade contracts between Tenex, a subsidiary of Rosatom, and, respectively, EDF and Orano.».
«Continuing to trade nuclear materials with Russia while the war in Ukraine rages on is scandalous,» said Pauline Boyer, who is in charge of nuclear energy and the energy transition at Greenpeace France.
Yesterday morning, «dozens of barrels of enriched uranium and ten containers of natural uranium originating from Russia» were delivered by cargo ship to the port of Dunkirk, before being loaded «onto a train and several trucks, likely bound for Pierlat in France and/or Lingen in Germany,» the NGO estimated.
Framatome, a nuclear power plant builder and nuclear fuel supplier and a subsidiary of EDF, simply clarified last night to the French Press Agency that these were «deliveries of material intended for the manufacture of nuclear fuel» destined for its plant in Roman-sur-Isère (Drôme department). This fuel will then be delivered «to its customers,» the company added.
The Orano Group (formerly Areva) had previously stated that these shipments did not involve either its own raw materials or its own facilities.
However, he confirmed, on the contrary, that he had delivered to Russia «five or six» shipments of reprocessed uranium (URT), which had belonged to Greece until October, bound for the Seversk plant of the Russian state-owned Rosatom group, under a contract signed in 2020 covering a total quantity of 1,150 metric tons.
«When the war broke out, no sanctions had been imposed, but we decided to terminate this contract, and the last shipment took place in October,» an Orano spokesperson explained to Agence France-Presse, confirming reports in the newspaper Le Monde.
A fuel processing product, URT (recycled uranium), can be used to produce new fuel after it has been reprocessed and re-enriched.
This processed uranium was exported to Russia because Orano «does not have conversion facilities,» the spokesperson emphasized.
In 2018, EDF signed a 600-million-euro contract with Tenex, a subsidiary of Rosatom, for the «recycling of EDF’s reprocessed uranium.».
«The decision to continue certain relationships was made in compliance with international sanctions,» EDF said in an email sent to the French Press Agency, without referring to any specific contract.
