Friday October 25, 2024

Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (SKB) filed an application in 2011 with the Land and Environmental Court of the Nacka District Court for permission to dispose of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. The court then prepared the application, held a longer main hearing in 2017 and submitted its opinion to the government in 2018. The government decided on January 27, 2022 that the activity was permitted in accordance with the Swedish Environmental Code.

The court has now granted permission to SKB and determined the conditions that will apply to the company. An enforcement order also issued by the court allows SKB to start the first works on the two sites even if the judgment is appealed to the Land and Environment Court at the Svea Court of Appeal.

The permit applies to radioactive waste from the 12 reactors (six operating reactors) that are part of Sweden’s ongoing nuclear power program. The permit does not apply to waste from a possible new nuclear power program, the court noted. SKB can deposit around 6,000 containers containing around 12,000 tonnes of nuclear waste to a depth of around 500 meters into the final repository. The activity is estimated at around 70 years, but it can last longer if, for example, the operating life of existing reactors is extended.

The conditions of the permit set by the court aim to limit the impact of the activity on the environment through protection measures against noise, lowering the water table, discharge into water, etc. Several conditions target protected species and natural spaces in Forsmark.

A condition of the environmental permit requires SKB to conduct environmental monitoring regarding the preservation of information for future generations and post-closure monitoring.

SKB said the works that fall within the scope of the permit – and which can begin once the Uppsala County Council approves the control program – include protective measures and preparatory works. In Forsmark, where the storage is to be built, this involves forest felling, excavation work for the mining area, construction of a rock storage area, construction of a bridge over the cooling water channel, filling the operating area and facilities for nitrogen. purification.

“We need to establish the necessary infrastructure on the surface and start earthworks and protection measures,” said Stefan Engdahl, CEO of SKB. “SKB proposed conditions that take nature and the environment into account. We adapt to bird nesting periods, relocate species worthy of protection so that they can continue to live on the site and build bioreactors that purify process water from nitrogen.”

In order for SKB to begin tunneling itself, a safety report approved by the Radiation Protection Authority (SSM) is required. The SSM will continue the step-by-step review of final storage in accordance with the Nuclear Activities Act.

SKB said construction of the Forsmark nuclear fuel depot would begin two years before that of the Oskarshamn encapsulation facility, as construction deadlines are of different lengths. Both facilities are expected to be commissioned in the mid-2030s.

A similar geological repository for spent fuel is being built at Olkiluoto in Finland. The Finnish government granted a construction permit for this project in November 2015 and construction work on the depot began a year later. Posiva has applied for an operating license for the facility until the end of 2070.