Third shipment of vitrified waste from the UK to Germany successfully completed
The third and final shipment of high level waste in the form of vitrified residues has been safely delivered to Germany.
Final shipment of vitrified waste being loaded on to specialist nuclear transport vessel
Seven flasks containing high level waste were transported from the Sellafield site to the port of Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria by rail.
The flasks were then loaded on to the specialist nuclear transport vessel Pacific Grebe, operated by Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS) for transfer to the German port.
The waste was then transported by road in Germany to the Brokdorf federal storage facility arriving on 18 June 2026.
This shipment was carried out in full compliance with all appropriate national and international regulations.
The waste returned resulted from the reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel at Sellafield which had previously been used to produce electricity by utilities in Germany.
Vitrified Residue Returns are a key component of the UK’s strategy to repatriate high level waste from the Sellafield site, fulfil overseas contracts and deliver on government policy.
Sellafield Ltd’s programme manager, Jonathan Clingan said:
This was the final shipment of waste from reprocessing in the UK for our German customers.
Thanks to the excellent work of various teams at Sellafield Ltd, NTS and other partners in the UK and overseas, we have safely delivered a key milestone in the UK Government’s commitment to returning waste to overseas customers.