Environmental organization Greenpeace has revealed that France continues to ship reprocessed uranium to Russia for treatment despite the ongoing war in Ukraine. The group documented the loading of radioactive materials onto a cargo ship in Dunkirk port, marking the first such observed shipment in three years.
Radioactive Shipment Documented
On Saturday, November 15, 2025, Greenpeace members filmed approximately 10 containers with radioactive labels being loaded onto the Panamanian-registered cargo ship Mikhail Dudin at the Channel port of Dunkirk. According to the environmental watchdog, this vessel regularly transports enriched or natural uranium from France to St Petersburg.
Pauline Boyer, who leads Greenpeace France's nuclear campaign, described the trade as "not illegal, but immoral" given the current geopolitical situation. She emphasized that many nations have been implementing sanctions against Russia since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
French-Russian Nuclear Partnership
The shipments are part of a 600-million-euro deal signed in 2018 between French state-controlled energy giant EDF and Tenex, a subsidiary of Rosatom. This agreement covers the recycling of reprocessed uranium, operations that have remained unaffected by international sanctions.
Rosatom operates the only facility in the world capable of performing crucial conversion processes for reprocessed uranium. The Seversk plant in Siberia transforms the material into enriched reprocessed uranium that can be reused in nuclear power generation.
Economic and Environmental Implications
With uranium prices rising on international markets, reprocessing spent nuclear fuel has become increasingly economically viable for power companies. The process allows uranium to be reenriched and reused, extending its lifecycle.
However, Greenpeace notes that only about 10 percent of the reenriched uranium returned to France from Russia is actually utilized. The Cruas nuclear power plant in southern France remains the country's only facility capable of using this specific type of enriched reprocessed uranium.
Both France's energy ministry and EDF declined to comment on the specific shipment or the broader trade relationship when approached by journalists. This silence comes despite France having ordered EDF to halt uranium trade with Rosatom in 2022 when Greenpeace first exposed the contracts following Russia's invasion.
In March 2024, French authorities indicated they were seriously considering building their own conversion facility to produce enriched reprocessed uranium, potentially reducing dependence on Russian processing capabilities.
