Sweden’s nuclear fuel management company SKB has signed an agreement with construction group Skanska for the expansion of the existing final repository for short-lived radioactive waste at Forsmark, north of Stockholm in the east of the country.

The project involves designing and building six new rock vaults, at a depth of 120-140 metres.

The repository, known as the SFR, started operating in 1988 and was then the first of its kind in the world.

It currently holds approximately 63,000 cubic metres of short-lived low- and medium-level waste, but needs to be extended to accommodate decommissioning waste from Sweden’s six nuclear power plants, including three units at the nearby Forsmark station.