The method for final disposal that the SKB has developed implies that Swedish spent nuclear fuel will be disposed of at approximately a depth of 500 metres in Swedish bedrock. The final repository shall be designed so that it does not require maintenance or supervision. The reason for this is that there is no way to guarantee that supervision and maintenance will operate for a length of time as long as many thousands of years.
Responsibility of Industry
Sweden has made use of nuclear power since the 1960s. Today, nuclear energy represents nearly half of the nation’s production of electricity. In the mid 1970s, the Government determined that the nuclear power producers themselves were responsible for taking care of the spent nuclear fuel in a safe manner and in 1976, the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) was established. It is collectively owned by the Swedish nuclear power industry. One of SKB's tasks is to develop a method for disposal of spent nuclear fuel in a safe manner, for as long a period of time as is necessary, so that no damage can impact the environment or harm people.
SKB’s suggestion of repository method
SKB’s method is called the KBS-3. KBS stands for Nuclear Fuel Safety [translator’s note: in the Swedish language] and the number three designates that this is the third and most recent version that SKB has presented in its research programme.
SKB plans to construct a final repository so that radiation safety is guaranteed by several so-called barriers. The spent nuclear fuel will be placed in canisters with an external shell of copper and an insert of cast iron. The canisters will be disposed of at approximately a 500-meter depth in the Swedish bedrock. The canisters will be surrounded by a special clay that swells when it comes in contact with ground water. The entire repository will finally be filled with clay.
If you wish to know more about the method that the SKB has developed, please inquire at their website (www.skb.se).
When will the repository be operational?
If SKB is granted a license to construct the repository, a great deal of work remains before it becomes operational. SKB will begin by building tunnels and shafts in the rock. Simultaneously, the company will make new investigations and report their results to the SSM. Before the final repository can begin to be used, SKB must produce safety reports that SSM’s experts can review and approve. If you wish to know more about when the SKB estimates that they will begin construction of the final repository, please inquire at their website.
Other final repository methods
In most countries where nuclear power is used, discussions about how spent nuclear fuel will be managed are ongoing. In Sweden, final repository in bedrock is the current method. Other examples of methods are disposing of spent nuclear fuel in 3 – 5 kilometre deep bore holes, storing it for long periods of time with supervision, dumping the waste into the ocean, disposing it below glaciers or transmuting the radioactive substances in the spent fuel to more short-lived radioactive products.
The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority to review the method
The SKB develops methods for final disposal of spent nuclear fuel. The SSM reviews the proposed method from a nuclear safety and radiation protection perspective.
Before SSM has reviewed SKB’s application, we cannot comment upon the advantages or disadvantages of the method. If SSM’s experts find that the method does not fulfil safety requirements, we will recommend that the Government should deny the licensing application.