Sweden has a solution for its nuclear waste: an underground deposit where it can be isolated for 100,000 years

It looks like a termite mound on an industrial scale, but what you see on these lines is the ambitious idea with which Sweden wants to tackle one of the great problems of nuclear energy: your waste.

The Scandinavian Government has given his approval a SKB, the company in charge of waste management and combustible nuclear, to build a warehouse that aims to solve the problem for a whopping 100,000 years. The initiative, as detailed by the firm itself, consists of a deposit for spent nuclear fuel in Östhammar; and an encapsulation plant in Oskarshamn. The place chosen for the base is not accidental, it is located near the Forsmark plant.

SKB estimates that the warehouse will mobilize an investment of around SEK 19 billion, the equivalent of €1.8 billion, and will create 1,500 jobs. “It is a historic decision that allows SKB to dispose of the nuclear waste that our generation has produced. Now we hope to implement the largest environmental protection project in Sweden”, says the company’s CEO, Johan Dasht, it’s a statement.

More than 60 kilometers in tunnels

The projected deposit in Forsmark will incorporate a gigantic system of tunnels that will exceed 60 kilometers of length. Underground, the deposit will cover an area of ​​three to four square kilometers and will reach a depth of approximately 500 meters.

Design, defend from SKB, is the result of research and technological development that has spanned more than four decades and has benefited from the collaboration of university experts, research centers and higher education institutions in Sweden and abroad. The plan has been reviewed by the Swedish Radiological Safety Authority and the Land and Environment Court. The municipalities that will host both centers, Ósthammar and Oskarhamn, have also worked on the project. To face its large investment, the project will have the financial support of the Nuclear Waste Fund.

However, there is still a way to go. The Land and Environment Court must establish the conditions for the facilities and the Radiological Safety Authority will have to establish its requirements. For now, the company insists that its proposal offers a “safe and secure final solution” and estimates that the process of building the waste dump, once it has all the permits from the Swedish authorities, will take about a decade.

“Our generation must take responsibility for nuclear waste. This is the result of 40 years of research and they will be safe for 100,000 years.” assured the minister of the Environment of Sweden, Annika Strandhall, after the approval of the plan proposed by SKB: “With this, we ensure that we will be able to use our current nuclear energy as part of the transition to become the first developed nation without fossil fuels in the world”.

Since they began operating in the 1970s, Sweden’s nuclear power plants are estimated to have generated 8,000 tons of waste highly radioactive, including spent fuel. The objective of the new facilities is to house 500 meters below ground, in the bedrock, the waste and fuel that will be used by the reactors until their closure, scheduled for the 2040s. When the tunnels are full after 70 years they will be filled with bentonite clay to avoid any risk of water seepage and the installations will be sealed.

With his decision, Sweden follow in finland’s footsteps, which is building a waste plant in Eurajoki, on the country’s southwestern coast. The calendar that the country manages anticipates that it will be able to receive the first shipments shortly, in 2023, and be operational in 2025.

Despite the fact that the Government highlights the advantages of the project, the deposit is not without controversy. Neither at a political level, nor among the scientific community. The announcement comes in fact after years of debate and not long after the environmentalists – contrary to the initiative – will leave the executive.

some experts they have questioned the storage method, called KBS3 and that plans to isolate the spent nuclear fuel in copper containers that are then surrounded by bentonite clay and deposited in the network of underground galleries. Greenpeace itself He has criticized the fact that the authorities ignore the “strong criticism of independent scientists” who warn that the capsules “are at risk of corroding much faster than expected.”

Today there are about 7,500 tons of spent nuclear fuel deposited at the Oskarshamn medium-term storage facility off the coast of Sweden.

Images | SKB Y Anders Sandberg (Flickr)