World’s first construction license awarded for underground nuclear waste storage facility
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029373
Reuters : On Thursday, Finland’s government granted a license to nuclear waste management company Posiva Oy to build a storage and disposal facility on the island of Olkiluoto. The company’s plan is to store up to 6500 tons of spent uranium fuel in the facility, which will be constructed in the granite bedrock 450 m below the surface. Without delays, the facility could begin operating as soon as 2023. Posiva says that it will put the uranium into copper canisters that will be placed in storage tunnels lined with bentonite, a self-sealing, low-permeability silicate clay. Construction of the facility is expected to cost nearly €1 billion ($1.08 billion), and the total cost, including operating costs for 100 years, will be €3.5 billion.
