OMAEZAKI, JAPAN, May 18, 2009 (AFP) - An armed vessel carrying a massive load of recycled nuclear fuel arrived in Japan on Monday from France, an AFP correspondent witnessed.

The Pacific Heron, a specially adapted ship with a British police team on board to head off possible hijackers, arrived in the central port of Omaezaki more than two months after it left France in March.

The convoy, carrying the MOX fuel - a blend of plutonium and reprocessed uranium - is expected to unload part of the shipment here and continue its journey to two other ports by nuclear plants in southwestern Japan.

Officials have not revealed where and when the shipment will be unloaded, citing fears of terrorist attacks.

Three Japanese power companies - Kyushu Electric, Shikoku Electric and Chubu Electric - have said they ordered the MOX fuel reprocessed by French nuclear giant Areva.

Japan, which has almost no energy resources, is looking to start using MOX as nuclear fuel for the first time to support the world's second largest economy.