Finnish spent fuel management company Posiva Oy was granted an operating license on Oct. 22 for the encapsulation and its final disposal facility, Onkalo, for spent nuclear fuel in Olkiluoto, Finland, the company said.
The decision was approved by the government following a favorable safety assessment issued by Finland’s nuclear regulator, the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, in August according to Posiva’s Oct. 22 press release. Posiva is the first company in the world approved to operate a final disposal facility for spent fuel, the company said.
“This is a great and historic day for both Posiva and Finland,” Posiva President and CEO Ilkka Poikolainen said in the release. “In addition to comprehensive expertise, the stability of the society and the predictability of the operational environment were prerequisites for the operating license.”
While Posiva received its operating license, the company said it is still finalizing the commissioning stage of the facility and carrying out tests that would need to be approved by the Finnish nuclear regulator. Posiva did not provide a comprehensive schedule for when it expects the operations to begin.
Posiva’s Onkalo repository site is approved to operate until the end of 2070. The company first applied for its operating license in 2024. Though the company faced some regulatory delays, Poikolainen said the approval is important as the facility would serve generations to come.
“This solution has not been built because it was easy,” Poikolainen said. “It was built despite not being easy. Because it is the responsible thing to do. And because it is the right thing.”
The approval of Posiva’s operating license comes decades after the Finnish government approved Olkiluoto as the permanent repository site in 2001. The company was first issued a construction permit to begin building out the Onkalo repository in 2015. It began to dig tunnels for the repository in 2021.
In late August, Posiva began borehole drilling at the Onkalo repository site. These deposition holes the company drilling are spots where spent fuel canisters will be placed.
