Nuclear mattersSweden selects location for central nuclear waste repository

In the United States the debate over Yucca Mountain as a central repository for spent nuclear fuel is all but over, with the Obama administration and Congress slashing funding for the project, which now appears to be doomed. In Sweden, though, the idea of a central repository is alive and well. The Swedish nuclear fuel and waste-management company SKB has selected Forsmark as the site where the final repository for Sweden’s spent nuclear-fuel will be built. Once completed, all spent nuclear-fuel from Swedish nuclear power-plants will be disposed of in the repository, at a depth of nearly 500 meters. SKB said that the Forsmark repository will require less space than a repository in Laxemar, an alternative site that was under consideration.

The company will now prepare an environmental-impact assessment and a safety analysis of the repository, which will be reviewed by the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority and the Swedish Environmental Court.

SKB has already applied for a building permit to develop an encapsulation plant adjacent to its existing interim storage facility in Oskarshamn. That facility will encapsulate the spent nuclear fuel before it is transported to the final repository.

The selection of the Forsmark site is the result of almost twenty years’ work, during which SKB conducted surveys throughout Sweden and feasibility studies in eight of the country’s municipalities. The Forsmark facility is expected to accept the first deliveries of spent nuclear-fuel by about 2023.