The Swedish government announced on January 27 plans to construct an underground repository for storing used nuclear waste.
Design of Sweden’s nuclear waste storage facility. (Photo: Aktivera Talande Webb).
The facility will be located near an existing nuclear power plant in Forsmark, approximately 140 km north of the capital Stockholm. The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) will be responsible for its construction.
According to the plan, around 12,000 tons of radioactive waste will be “sealed” and transferred into tunnels located 500 meters below the earth’s surface. After approximately 70 years, the tunnels will be full and sealed with bentonite, a type of fine natural clay.
The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that there are up to 370,000 tons of high-level radioactive nuclear fuel being temporarily stored worldwide. In Sweden, nuclear power plants have generated about 8,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste since they began operating in the 1970s.
“Our generation must take responsibility for nuclear waste”, emphasized Swedish Environment Minister Annika Strandhall at a press conference. “The project to seal nuclear waste underground is the result of 40 years of research, and it will be safe for 100,000 years.”
Construction of the repository is scheduled to begin in 2023 and may take 10 years to complete. The entire project will require an estimated investment of around 2 billion USD.
