Three electric utilities are planning shipments of mixed oxide plutonium-uranium fuel from France sometime between January and March that would arrive by sea between April and June, according to sources.
The shipments for Kyushu Electric Power Co., Shikoku Electric Power Co. and Chubu Electric Power Co. would enable Japan to commence its first MOX fuel power generation as early as in the next fiscal year, which starts April 1, the sources said.
The three firms will not release the times or transportation routes out of security concerns.
The shipments would be the third of their kind from Europe and the first since 2001, the sources said.
The previous two shipments were purportedly for Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Kansai Electric Power Co., but neither has commenced MOX power generation.
The fuel for the shipments has been reprocessed in France using spent nuclear fuel from Japanese reactors.
The MOX fuel to be shipped next year is destined for Kyushu Electric's Genkai power plant in Saga Prefecture, Shikoku Electric's Ikata plant in Ehime Prefecture and Chubu Electric's Hamaoka plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, the sources said.
The sources declined to clarify the departure or arrival times of the shipments.
It would take around two months to transport the fuel from France to Japan using three possible routes — via the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Horn or the Panama Canal, they said.
The vessels would be armed to deter attacks, they said.