A step-wise review

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) prepares licence applications under the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities to construct, possess and operate nuclear facilities. In our preparatory work, we assess whether applications meet our radiation safety requirements.

Applications to construct nuclear facilities follow a parallel review process, which means that the applicant must submit an application under the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities to the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority and an application under the Swedish Environmental Code to the Land and Environment Court.

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority is the preparatory authority for applications under the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities, and the Land and Environment Court is the preparatory authority for applications under the Swedish Environmental Code. Ultimately, it is the Swedish Government that decides on licences and permissibility under the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities and the Swedish Environmental Code respectively, after the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority and the Land and Environment Court have made their pronouncements on the applications.

Review under the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities – a step-wise process

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority’s review and examination of Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB’s (SKB) application under the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities to construct and operate a final repository for spent nuclear fuel is the first step in a step-wise review process. This means that the review was not completed when we submitted our pronouncement to the Swedish Government on 23 January 2018, in which we endorsed SKB’s licence application.

From construction to routine operation

On 27 January 2022, the Swedish Government granted 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 contains conditions that the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority shall conduct a continued, step-wise review of the facility.

For it to be possible to take the facility into operation, SKB needs approval from us prior to

  • construction,
  • trial operation, and
  • routine operation of the final repository.

At every step of the construction and operational phase, SKB must show us that the assumptions on which the licence is based remain relevant.

Finally, under the Swedish Act on Nuclear Activities, it is the Swedish Government that must give its approval to the final closure of the repository.

A step-wise review is recommended by the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and is consistent with international practice.

Ongoing regulatory supervision

After the facility has been taken into operation, the Authority conducts regulatory supervision. This means, among other things, that we review the licence holder’s periodic assessments of radiation safety and carry out checks to ensure that current regulatory requirements are being met.