Ground has been broken, starting the construction of the Swedish Spent Fuel Repository in Forsmark, Östhammar Municipality. Minister for Climate and Environment Romina Pourmokhtari was present to officially start the work. The 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 500m in rock that is 1.9bn years old. It is planned to hold approximately 12 000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel in 6 000 canisters. The surface section will cover a total area of 24 hectares, the equivalent of 44 soccer fields. When fully extended, the repository will contain more than 60km of tunnels.
Sweden is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of the progress it has made with its nuclear waste programme. The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co, SKB, which is owned by the Swedish nuclear power plants, has been researching and developing technology for the geological final disposal of Swedish nuclear waste for more than 40 years. In autumn 2024, SKB received an environmental permit and an enforcement order from the Land and Environmental Court, which means that work can now begin.
“This is a historic day for the Swedish nuclear waste programme. We’re taking an important step and breaking the ground for a final solution for spent nuclear fuel. This sees us creating good conditions for continued fossil-free electricity production,” says Stefan Engdahl, CEO of SKB.
The Minister for Climate and Environment Romina Pourmokhtari represented the government on site and was first to break the ground.
The construction of the Spent Fuel Repository will take ten years before disposal can begin, after which the repository will be gradually extended over a long period. Today marks the start of two years of preparatory work above ground, including the construction of a rock mass storage and water treatment plant, a bridge over the cooling water canal and forest clearing. After that, work begins to go down into the bedrock.
Comments: