Final repository for radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel
One of the duties of the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority is to review the final disposal applications submitted to the Authority by Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (SKB). We review the applications with reference to the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities and against our regulations, and issue pronouncements to the Swedish Government, which then makes licensing decisions.
In 2011, SKB submitted applications to build an encapsulation facility and a final repository for spent nuclear fuel. We have completed our preparation of the case. In our pronouncement to the Government on 23 January 2018, we endorsed SKB’s applications. On 27 January 2022, the Government decided to grant SKB a licence under the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities to construct, possess and operate a facility for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel.
In 2014, SKB applied to extend the existing final repository for short-lived radioactive waste (SFR). In our pronouncement to the Government on 22 October 2019, we endorsed SKB’s application. On 22 December 2021, the Government decided to grant a licence under the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities and permissibility under the Swedish Environmental Code for the extension and continued operation of SFR.
SKB is also making plans for one last final repository, in order to be able to deal with long-lived low-level and medium-level waste. The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority is monitoring SKB’s work on this within the framework of the Authority’s regulatory review of the nuclear industry’s research, development and demonstration programme (RD&D programme).
Final repository for spent nuclear fuel
The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority’s pronouncement
The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority has reviewed SKB’s applications with reference to the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities and against the requirements of the Authority’s regulations. On 23 January 2018, we submitted our pronouncement to the Swedish Government, in which we endorsed SKB’s applications to be permitted to
- construct a final repository in Forsmark, Östhammar Municipality,
- extend the central intermediate storage facility for spent nuclear fuel (Clab) in Oskarshamn Municipality, and
- construct an encapsulation facility adjacent to Clab.
In parallel with our review of SKB’s applications under the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities, the Land and Environment Court at Nacka District Court reviewed SKB’s applications under the Swedish Environmental Code. The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority is a consultative body to the Land and Environment Court and, in autumn 2017, several of the Authority’s radiation safety experts took part in the Court’s main proceedings regarding SKB’s applications.
The Land and Environment Court submitted its pronouncement to the Government on the same day that we submitted ours, on 23 January 2018. In its pronouncement, the Court considered that the operation is permissible if SKB provides additional supporting documentation in respect of the long-term durability of the copper canister.
The process following our pronouncement
In June 2018, the Swedish Government gave SKB the opportunity to supplement its application according to the Swedish Environmental Code in accordance with the recommendations of the Land and Environment Court. At the same time, the Government gave SKB the opportunity to offer comment on its applications under the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities. In March 2019, SKB submitted a supplementary report to the Government. The Government subsequently sent out SKB’s supplementary information for consultation, to parties including the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority.
On 30 September 2019, we noted in our consultation statement to the Government that SKB’s supplementary information strengthens the Authority’s previous position that SKB has the potential to meet all of our regulatory requirements that are relevant to this case.
SKB’s applications include being permitted to:
- construct a final repository for spent nuclear fuel in Forsmark in Östhammar Municipality,
- extend the central intermediate storage facility for spent nuclear fuel (Clab) in Oskarshamn Municipality, and
- construct an encapsulation facility adjacent to Clab.
On 20 June 2021, the Government expressed a desire to obtain consultation comments on the procedure of separating from the rest of applications that part that relates to an extension of permitted storage capacity at the central interim storage facility, Clab. We note in our consultation statement dated 8 July 2021 that we do not see any legal barriers to such a separation, but at the same time refer to challenges regarding acceptance in society unless decisions on applications as a whole are kept together.
The Government decided on 26 August 2021 to separate the processing of SKB’s applications and to grant permission to extend the storage capacity at the central intermediate storage facility, Clab.
On 23 September 2021, the Government sent a further consultation request to bodies including the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority. The purpose was to obtain comments, partly on two recently conducted studies relating to the structural materials of the copper canister (copper and nodular iron), and partly on the stages in the so-called LOT experiment that SKB completed in 2019. The LOT experiment (LOT: Long-term test of buffer material) is a series of long-term trials conducted by SKB in the Äspö laboratory near Oskarshamn, for the purpose of evaluating the initial development of bentonite clay, and to some extent also copper.
The Government wished to obtain the Authority’s assessments on whether the findings in the two research studies have any significance for the Government’s decision regarding SKB’s licence application, and if there is any additional information from LOT stages S2 and A3 that needs to be reported.
The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority responded to the consultation request on 15 October 2021. Our assessment was that the two research studies essentially relate to aspects of the protective capabilities of the copper canister that have been considered and previously examined by the Authority, and that the studies do not affect our assessment that SKB’s final repository concept has the potential to meet our regulatory requirements. Based on the Authority’s review of SKB’s work on quality management in connection with, and the findings of, the completed LOT stages, it was assessed that there is no reason to require additional reporting concerning the LOT trials.
The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority noted that the latest results obtained from LOT are in line with information gained from previous phases of the experiment, which was taken into account and assessed within the framework of the Authority’s preparation of SKB’s licence application, as well as being in line with conventional scientific understanding of copper corrosion processes.
News items in English about the final repository for spent nuclear fuel
The Swedish Government has granted a licence for the final repository for spent nuclear fuel
On 27 January 2022, the Swedish Government decided to grant SKB a licence under the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities to construct, possess and operate a facility for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel. The decision includes as a licence condition the requirement that the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority shall conduct a continued, step-wise review process prior to the facility being taken into routine operation. The Government has also decided on the permissibility of the final disposal system in accordance with the Swedish Environmental Code and is now handing over the case to the Government to the Land and Environment Court, which issues a formal judgment on licensing and prescribes conditions under the Swedish Environmental Code.
The Swedish Government’s decision on the final repository for spent nuclear fuel
Extension of current final repository for short-lived radioactive waste (SFR)
In 2014, SKB submitted an application for the extension and continued operation of the current final repository for short-lived radioactive waste (SFR).
As a consultative body to the Land and Environment Court, we have reviewed the application for extension of SFR under the Swedish Environment Code. On 17 January 2019, we submitted our pronouncement to the Swedish Government, in which we endorsed SKB’s application under the Swedish Environmental Code.
The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority has examined SKB’s applications according to the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities. On 22 October 2019, we submitted our pronouncement to the Government, in which we endorsed SKB’s application.
The Land and Environment Court submitted its pronouncement to the Swedish Government on 13 November 2019, in which they ruled that the operation may be considered permissible.
News items about extended SFR
The Swedish Government’s decision on the extension of SFR
On 22 December 2021, the Swedish Government decided to grant a licence under the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities and permissibility under the Swedish Environmental Code for the extension and continued operation of SFR.
The licence under the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities contains conditions for a step-wise process for the construction and test operation of the extension, and for routine operation of the integrated facility. This means that before each step, SKB must submit a safety report, which must be reviewed and approved by the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority before the step may commence.
In the review under the Swedish Environmental Code, the case is returning to the Land and Environment Court, where negotiations on licensing conditions under the Swedish Environmental Code will take place.