Sweden Starts Construction Of Spent Fuel Repository In Forsmark

On Wednesday, 15 January, Sweden started building the final storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Forsmark, Östhammar Municipality.

Minister for Climate and Environment Romina Pourmokhtari was present to officially start the work. The final repository will be ready for disposal in the 2030s and will be fully extended in the 2080s.

The final repository will be located at a depth of around 500 metres in rock that is 1,9 billion years old. This is only the second such site in the world, where highly radioactive waste will be stored for 100,000 years.

According to SKB (Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB), the Swedish radioactive waste management company, the repository is planned to hold approximately 12 000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel in 6 000 canisters, and when fully extended, the repository will contain more than 60 kilometres of tunnels.

Read the NucNet full story.

Sweden produces almost 30% of its electricity from its six nuclear reactors operating in Forsmark, Oskarshamn and Ringhals and it is planning to expand its nuclear fleet.

The majority of radioactive waste currently stored in the SFR (Short-lived radioactive waste) final repository comes from Sweden’s nuclear power plants, but radioactive waste from hospitals, veterinary medicine, research and industry is also deposited within it.

On 27th January 2022, the Swedish Government also approved the project proposed by SKB to build a final repository for spent nuclear fuel in Forsmark and an encapsulation plant in Oskarshamn.