In May 2001, the proposal to build a repository for high-level waste in Eurajoki near the Finnish Olkiluoto nuclear power plant was approved by the legislature.
Above: Finland’s repository project is progressing, with the start of the excavation of the first repository tunnel is now underway (Photo credit: Posiva)
The “problem” of nuclear waste is one of the long-term issues that have preoccupied the nuclear debate since almost the dawn of nuclear power as we know it.
For many decades the nuclear industry has confidently proclaimed: “We can manage the waste” and that the problem is not due to a lack of technical solutions, but rather to political obstacles. To date, most of the nuclear waste repositories have failed to materialize, which is mainly due to the fact that the public license for the implementation of the projects was not obtained. There is, however, a shining example that stands out on the northeastern edge of Europe. This month, 20 years ago, NEI reported that the Finnish Parliament approved the world’s first nuclear waste site in Eurajoki, near the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant on the Finnish east coast. The disposal company Posiva had submitted the application for the fundamental decision to the government in May 1999. The application was based on the results of around 20 years of research and development activities, including a site characterization program and a comprehensive environmental impact assessment.
The start of operations reported in the article (2020) was not complied with, but the Onkalo facility is to continue to be the world’s first deep geological repository for used nuclear fuel. Earlier this year it was announced that the first disposal tunnels would be excavated, with the facility expected to begin accepting waste in the mid-2020s.
In the 20 years that have passed since the NEI article in June 2001, Posiva Oy has excavated half a million cubic meters of rock and excavated 10 km of tunnels. In the final phase of the project, another 40 km with the storage of nuclear waste are planned.
The excavation of the first five disposal tunnels will take place over the next 18 months as part of Posiva’s EUR 500 million EKA project, which includes the construction and equipping of the disposal facilities and the start of disposal in the first tunnel.
With Onkalo nearing completion, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as the garbage saga is concerned.
The lack of an operating facility around the world is an often cited objection to the use of nuclear energy, as “there is no solution to the waste problem”.
The startup has the potential to transform nuclear debates around the world and could signal the beginning of the end of one of the most infected conflicts that have engulfed nuclear energy.
However, with the long and sometimes painful history of nuclear waste disposal, caution should be exercised.
The nuclear industry tends to “give people facts about nuclear waste (waste) and they will accept us” in their mantra, but the many failed repository site processes that have focused on disseminating facts speak to the contrary . The world’s first garbage dump can probably teach the rest of the world more about public participation and engagement than about engineering. The question is, will the world be ready to listen and learn?
In the 20 years that have passed since the NEI article in June 2001, Posiva Oy has excavated half a million cubic meters of rock and excavated 10 km of tunnels. In the final phase of the project, another 40 km with the storage of nuclear waste are planned.
Author: John CH Lindberg FRSA
Comments are closed.