Three utilities said Tuesday that 28 canisters of high-level radioactive waste produced through the reprocessing in Britain of their spent nuclear fuel will be returned to Japan around February.
It will be the third time vitrified radioactive waste will be brought from Britain. Japan's spent fuel has also been handled in France, but all of the high-level radioactive waste created there had been transferred to Japan by 2007.
The exact date of the shipment from Britain was not disclosed for security reasons.
The 28 canisters of waste have been produced through the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel at the request of Chubu Electric Power Co., Chugoku Electric Power Co. and Kansai Electric Power Co.
Japan has received 104 canisters of such waste from Britain and plans to receive about 800 more.
High-level radioactive waste will be placed at a final disposal site to be located deep underground after being stored for about 30 to 50 years at a facility in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, for cooling.
No progress has been made in selecting the site for the final repository.