Sweden’s nuclear regulator on Wednesday offered a show of support for plans to establish a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel near the east coast village of Forsmark.
“The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority has assessed that the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) has the potential to comply with the Authority’s nuclear safety and radiation protection requirements for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel,” the agency said in a press release. “Consequently, the Authority recommends in its statement of findings to the land and environmental court that the repository system should be deemed a permissible activity according to the Swedish Environmental Code.”
Specifically, the agency found that SKB had made the case for choosing Forsmark as the top location among several considered for the site; has shown why its planned disposal system – which involves placing fuel pellets within copper canisters that are stored underground in Bentonite clay within bedrock — is better than other methods; and has demonstrated that it can build and manage encapsulation and repository facilities in line with national radiation safety mandates.
The company is seeking licenses for the Forsmark repository, within the municipality of Östhammar, along with a facility to encapsulate the fuel in copper and cast iron, to be located in the nearby municipality of Oskarshamn.
The Radiation Safety Authority and the land and environmental court are scheduled next year to issue their final evaluations of the application to the national government, which largely has final say on approval. Oskarshamn and Östhammar, though, can veto the application, World Nuclear News reported.
