– Ship carrying nuclear cargo slips in, out of port (Savannah Morning News, July 22, 2011):
The Port of Savannah had a rare visit this week when the Atlantic Osprey, one of the International Nuclear Services’ fleet of specially equipped nuclear fuel transport vessels, docked Monday at Ocean Terminal.
The Osprey, which slipped in and out of port relatively unnoticed, was carrying containers holding six casks of nuclear fuel irradiated in the now-closed French fast reactor Phenix.
It’s part of the Department of Energy’s now-defunct Global Nuclear Energy Partnership.
The material is being returned to the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico — reportedly its source of origination — for “post irradiation examination.”
Sources tell us the ship departed Cherbourg, France, on June 28 and was met on arrival in Savannah by escort teams from Los Alamos and the U.S. Department of Energy.
The material was off-loaded to trucks for the 1,600-plus mile trek to the Los Alamos facility, a Department of Energy nuclear research institution charged with ensuring the safety, security, and reliability of the nation’s nuclear program.
Calls to the Los Alamos National Lab were referred to the National Nuclear Security Agency in Washington, D.C., which did not return requests for information.
The Osprey is a 25-year-old INF Class 2 multi-purpose general cargo vessel operated by the International Nuclear Services. It has lift-on/lift-off capability through hatches as well as roll-on/roll-off capability via a stern door which, when open, becomes an access ramp for vehicles.
Formerly known as the Arneb, the Osprey was purchased by British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. in 2001 and extensively refurbished to meet its operational requirements.
The vessel transports used research reactor fuels, such as the cargo that came into Savannah, as well as mixed oxide — or MOX — fuel. That’s recycled nuclear fuel made from a cocktail of uranium and plutonium, the raw material of nuclear bombs.
The Osprey is also chartered to transport non-nuclear materials.
Senior business reporter Mary Carr Mayle covers the ports for the Savannah Morning News. She can be reached at
912-652-0324 or at [email protected].
SHIPPING SCHEDULE
These are the ships expected to call on Georgia Ports Authority’s Garden City and Ocean Terminals in the next week. Sailing schedules are provided by Georgia Ports Authority and are subject to change.
Terminal Ship name Arrival
GCT YM BUSAN Today
GCT HANJIN VALENCIA Today
GCT CHARLOTTE C. RICKMERS Today
GCT EVER DEVOTE Today
GCT ROTTERDAM EXPRESS Today
GCT PRESIDENT ADAMS Today
GCT CANADA EXPRESS Today
GCT MSC LUDOVICA Today
GCT MAERSK BRATAN Today
GCT CSAV LONQUEN Today
GCT ZIM PANAMA Today
OT TOMAR Today
GCT CMA CGM VITALITY Saturday
GCT BEAUMONT Saturday
GCT WASHINGTON EXPRESS Saturday
GCT NYK DEMETER Saturday
GCT MSC ALESSIA Saturday
GCT NYK REMUS Sunday
GCT HANJIN LOS ANGELES Sunday
GCT CMA CGM SWORDFISH Sunday
GCT CMA CGM EIFFEL Sunday
OT FORTUNE BIRD Sunday
GCT DRESDEN EXPRESS Monday
GCT NORTHERN DIVERSITY Monday
OT ATLANTIC NYALA Monday
GCT MOL ENDURANCE Tuesday
GCT HYUNDAI INTEGRAL Tuesday
GCT MAERSK WINNIPEG Tuesday
GCT CSCL BRISBANE Tuesday
GCT IPANEMA Tuesday
GCT YORK Tuesday
GCT ECEM KALKAVAN Tuesday
OT LORD VISHNU Tuesday
GCT CHISWICK BRIDGE Wednesday
GCT HUDSON RIVER Wednesday
GCT SEA-LAND METEOR Wednesday
GCT CMA CGM TARPON Wednesday
GCT XENA Wednesday
OT CEPHEUS LEADER Wednesday
OT TARAGO Wednesday
GCT YM SHANGHAI Thursday
GCT OOCL BRITAIN Thursday
GCT AMERICA EXPRESS Thursday
GCT NYK DAEDALUS Thursday
GCT ZIM SHENZHEN Thursday
GCT MSC LORETTA Thursday
GCT MAERSK IOWA Thursday
GCT ISLANDIA Thursday
GCT LIWIA P Thursday