Repository for spent nuclear fuel

At the same time, SKB also submitted the supplemental information required to complete the application submitted in 2006 for an encapsulation facility adjacent to CLAB. CLAB is an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel located in Oskarshamn. Now that SKB has submitted its licence applications, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority has progressed from reviewing SKB’s research and development work to the formal licensing process.

For more than 25 years now, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority and its predecessors have reviewed the work of the nuclear power industry to develop and propose a site and method for a spent nuclear fuel repository. Consequently, the Authority has built up expertise in its organisation. The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority has also established ties with a network of international experts, making us well-equipped to consider SKB’s applications.

Apart from the two licence applications submitted in accordance with the Act on Nuclear Activities to the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, SKB also submitted an application to the Environmental Court for the repository system activities that must be considered for permissibility and authorisation under the Swedish Environmental Code.

Work of the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority related to a future repository

The task of the Authority is to protect people and the environment from harmful effects of radiation, now and in the future. Spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants emits radiation for a very long period of time. The Authority is responsible for ensuring that the nuclear power industry complies with all regulations governing repositories. We do this by reviewing SKB’s work and considering its licence applications to check that the method and site selected fulfil the Authority’s requirements in terms of nuclear safety and radiation protection.

We expect our review work to take at least two years. Our experts have skills in construction engineering, plant technology, geology, hydrology, chemistry, materials chemistry, materials engineering, social sciences, technical physics and radioecology. When we are finished with our review, we will forward a statement of our views to the Swedish Government where we either approve or reject SKB’s applications.

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority is a central body in the consultation process managed by the Environmental Court. In other words, apart from the two licensing matters, the Authority will also respond to the Environmental Court's request for comments on the licensing application. The Environmental Court will subsequently also submit a statement of its views to the Government.

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority’s competence

For more than 25 years now, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority and its predecessors (the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate, or SKI, and the Swedish Radiation Protection Authority, or SSI) have been reviewing the nuclear power industry’s programme for a spent nuclear fuel repository. Over this period of time, the respective authorities have built up a good capacity to analyse a repository’s long-term radiation safety.

In the 1990s, SKI conducted two extensive safety analyses of its own, of which one was reviewed by international experts and was rated highly. The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority has also developed its own computer codes that can be used to verify industry calculations, for example models for how radioactive substances spread in the environment.

Over the years, the Authority has established ties with a large number of national and—above all—international experts and teams of experts in various scientific disciplines and fields of technology. The external experts have pursued research, developed calculation models and participated in the authorities’ reviews of SKB’s safety analysis reports and programme for research, development and demonstration, referred to as the 'RD&D' programme. Most of these experts have been working with repository-related matters for many years and possess extensive knowledge.

International co-operation

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority’s international co-operation is a crucial part of its employees’ professional development. The Authority is well represented in international co-operation and research fora focusing on repositories in (for instance) the IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency), the European Union and the NEA (OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency).

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority also pursues research and development work together with authorities abroad, such as STUK, the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Finland. Through the Swedish Government, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority has also requested that the NEA conduct an independent peer review of certain components of SKB’s licence applications.

The collective expertise of the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority makes it well prepared to conduct a qualified review of SKB’s applications.