Sweden embarks on landmark 100,000-year nuclear waste project

Sweden has begun construction of a final repository for spent nuclear fuel in Forsmark, 150 kilometres north of Stockholm. This will make Sweden the second country in the world, after Finland, to have such a solution. The repository, designed to store waste for 100,000 years, will be able to accommodate 13,200 metric tonnes of radioactive waste.

The repository will consist of 60 kilometres of tunnels buried at a depth of 500 metres in rocks that are 1.9 billion years old. The spent nuclear fuel will be encased in 5-metre copper capsules resistant to corrosion, additionally surrounded by a layer of clay. The first waste is expected to be delivered to the repository at the end of the 2030s, and the project is scheduled for completion in 2080.

Although the construction of the repository is a milestone, the project has faced criticism. The Swedish NGO MKG has filed an appeal, demanding additional safety inspections. Research by the Royal Institute of Technology indicates that the copper capsules may corrode, posing a threat to groundwater.

The chairwoman of MKG, Linda Birkedal, emphasised that decisions regarding the storage of radioactive waste require absolute certainty of safety over thousands of years. The organisation proposes delaying the project by a decade in favour of further research.

We have room to wait ten years to make a decision, given this is something that has to be safe for 100,000 years - emphasised Birkedal.

The cost of the Forsmark repository will be approximately 12 billion kronor (£881 million) and will be entirely covered by the Swedish nuclear industry. The facility is intended for waste from current reactors but does not include fuel from future power plants. Sweden plans to build 10 new reactors by 2045, indicating the need for further investments in nuclear infrastructure.