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Greenpeace claims French resumption of nuclear trade with Russia

Environmental campaign group Greenpeace hit out at the resumption of nuclear trade between France and Russia during its war with Ukraine after activists observed the loading of a tanker in northern France with reprocessed uranium bound for Russia.

RFI  18/11/2025

Greenpeace published video that it said its activists shot on Saturday of around 10 containers with radioactive labels going onto a cargo ship in Dunkirk.

The Panamanian-registered ship, the Mikhail Dudin, is regularly used to carry enriched or natural uranium from France to St Petersburg, according to Greenpeace.

Saturday’s consignment was the first of reprocessed uranium to be observed for three years, it added.

“The resumption of this trade once again shows France’s dependence on Russia,” Pauline Boyer, the head of Greenpeace France’s nuclear campaign, told RFI.

The images released by Greenpeace came two days ahead of a meeting in Paris between the French president, Emmanuel Macron and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, to discuss Ukraine’s air defence systems.

“Despite the French government’s commitments to support Ukraine — which is, fortunately, the case — on the other hand, there is ongoing collaboration with Rosatom, the Russian nuclear company, which is indirectly contributing to the financing of the war.”

…………………………..”It is outrageous that French nuclear companies — EDF, Orano, Framatome — continue to collaborate with Rosatom.” 

French state-controlled energy giant Electricité de France (EDF) signed a 600-million-euro deal in 2018 with a Rosatom subsidiary, Tenex, for the recycling of reprocessed uranium.

These operations have not been affected by international sanctions over the Ukraine war.

Rosatom has the only facility in the world – at Seversk in Siberia – capable of carrying out key parts of the conversion of reprocessed uranium to enriched reprocessed uranium……………..

Only about 10 percent of the reenriched uranium sent back to France by Russia is used at its Cruas nuclear power plant, in southern France, the only one in the country that can use enriched reprocessed uranium, according to Greenpeace.  

France’s energy ministry and EDF have yet to respond publicly to questions on the consignment or trade.

Top politicians in France ordered EDF chiefs to halt uranium trade with Rosatom in 2022 when Greenpeace France revealed the contracts in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine……
https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20251118-greenpeace-claims-french-resumption-of-nuclear-trade-with-russia

November 21, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, politics international