Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS) has welcomed diplomats from the Japanese Embassy to its home port in Barrow-in-Furness.

The delegation were given a tour of the terminal where they met and spoke with NTS representatives.

NTS has a long-standing relationship with Japan and undertake many complex nuclear movements to the country. The most recent voyage took 16 MOX fuel assemblies from Cherbourg, France to the Takahama Nuclear Power Station, Japan.

MOX fuel is nuclear fuel made from recycled nuclear waste and this was the eighth voyage of its kind.

Representatives from the Japanese Embassy and Marubeni Corporation were shown around the specialist nuclear vessel Pacific Heron during their visit.

Pete Buchan, NTS Shipping Director, who welcomed the guests, said: “It’s a huge honour to have such distinguished guests visiting our home port in Barrow. We’re really proud of the world-leading work we undertake here at NTS and welcome the opportunity to showcase the pride, professionalism and dedication of our crews, while maintaining a close relationship with our Japanese stakeholders and customers.”

NTS’s ships are operated by Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited (PNTL), the world’s most experienced shippers of nuclear cargoes, which operate three vessels – Pacific Grebe, Pacific Heron, and Pacific Egret.

These vessels are specifically designed to transport nuclear material and have a faultless service record, with PNTL safely covering millions of miles without a single incident resulting in the release of radioactivity.  

During the embassy’s visit, the delegation were also taken on a tour of the Sellafield site, a few miles up the road from the Barrow terminal, where they were shown the site’s High Level Waste Plant.