29 Apr (NucNet): Sweden’s nuclear regulator will take public comments until 31 October 2014 on nuclear fuel and waste management company SKB’s plan to build a deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel.
SKB is owned by Sweden’s nuclear utilities and plans to build and operate the repository for them.
The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority has been reviewing SKB’s repository application since it was submitted in March 2011, a statement said. The consultation is part of that review process, but it is the government that will make a final decision on whether or not the repository is built.
SKB is planning to build the repository at Forsmark in the municipality of Östhammar, on Sweden’s east coast.
If construction goes ahead as planned, Forsmark could be the world’s first permanent disposal site for spent nuclear fuel.
The siting process for a deep geological repository in Sweden began some 20 years ago and Forsmark was chosen in 2009.
SKB wants to build an encapsulation facility in Oskarshamn municipality and a final repository at Forsmark. The encapsulation facility will be built next to the existing Clab interim storage facility, and the final repository will be built at a depth of almost 500 metres in the bedrock at Forsmark.
