Politics Home Article | Third and final shipment of vitrified waste from the UK to Germany

Seven flasks will be transported from Sellafield via a German port to the Brokdorf interim storage facility later in 2026.

This will be the final shipment from the UK to Germany. The first shipment of six flasks, to Biblis, was successfully completed in 2020 and the second shipment of seven flasks to Isar was completed in 2025.

The waste results from the reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel at the Sellafield site in West Cumbria, which had previously been used to produce electricity by utilities in Germany.

Vitrified residue returns are a key component of the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) strategy to repatriate high level waste from the UK, fulfil overseas contracts and deliver UK Government policy.

These returns involve Sellafield Ltd working in partnership with Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS) to return the waste to German customers.

NTS, part of the NDA, will perform the shipments, drawing on 50 years’ experience of transporting nuclear materials safely and securely around the world.

The waste will be transported by sea on a specialist vessel to a German port, then onwards to its final destination.

The shipments will be carried out in full compliance with all applicable national and international regulations, and subject to issue of all relevant permits and licenses.

Sellafield Ltd and NTS will provide further information on the shipments in due course.