Part 1 of 2 Parts
One of the biggest problems with nuclear power generation is the accumulation of hundreds of tons of spent nuclear fuel with no system of permanently disposal. All nations using nuclear power have a problem with disposing of spent nuclear fuel.
Finland is working on a permanent disposal system for spent nuclear fuel. A site was chosen for the Posiva permanent geological nuclear repository at Eurajoki near the Finnish Olkiluoto nuclear power plant in 2000. The next year, the Finnish Parliament approved the “decision-in-principle” for the permanent repository project. Posiva is jointly owned by two Finnish nuclear utilities, Fortum and Teollisuuden Voima Oyj.
A construction license application was submitted to the Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy in December 2013. The Onkalo underground laboratory was created to study the rock formations at Olkiluoto in order to serve as the basis for the repository. A construction license was granted by the Finnish government in November of 2015. Construction work began in 2016. Posiva must obtain a separate operational license for the repository before it can open.
The Posiva plan is to encapsulate spent nuclear fuel in copper-steel canisters in a facility above ground. Then the canisters will be moved to the tunnels of the repository which will be between thirteen hundred and fifteen hundred feet underground. The canisters will be placed in special deposition holes lined with a bentonite buffer. Posiva expects to open the repository in 2023. The cost of the repository construction project is estimated to be about five hundred and fifty million dollars. The employment impact will be about twenty-five hundred person years.
Posiva made an announcement in June of 2019 that it was prepared to start construction on the encapsulation plant. Following the announcement, Skansa, a Finnish construction firm, was awarded a contract for the implementation phase of the project. The Skansa contract is worth about fifty million dollars. Posiva and Skansa signed a contract in November of 2018 for the preparation phase of the project.
Posiva announced in September of this year that the foundation stone for the encapsulation plant had been put into place with a ceremony that was attended by : Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne; Posiva CEO and President Janne Mokka; Chairman of the Municipal Board of Eurajoki, Vesa Jalonen; Chairperson of the Eurajoki Municipal Council, Ilona Sjöman; and the CEO of Finnish construction company Skanska, Tuomas Särkilahti.
According to Mokka, he believes that the placing of the foundation stone is a serious first step in the long prepertory phase of the disposal facility. He said “This demonstrates that we are proceeding in accordance with the plan defined already in the 1980s. The entire nuclear energy sector in Finland can take pride of the solution we have for the final disposal of used fuel, enabling us to start final disposal in a responsible manner. The laying of the foundation stone is perhaps a small step in terms of worksite progress, but a giant leap for final disposal, nuclear power and climate. We are now about to take the preparations for final disposal to the implementation stage of the facilities; a stage which is unique on the global scale. I feel particularly proud of Posiva's personnel who can boast world-class expertise in final disposal. Together with our competent partners we are making history in our industry.”
Please read Part 2