Nuclear power Posiva applies for a license for a nuclear waste disposal facility – Spent nuclear fuel is buried in copper canisters to a depth of hundreds of meters

Nuclear waste company Posiva has submitted an operating license application to the spent nuclear fuel encapsulation and disposal facility in Olkiluoto, Eurajoki.

Posiva is applying for an operating license for the final disposal of spent fuel at the five nuclear power plant units in Olkiluoto and Loviisa.

Spent nuclear fuel will be deposited at a depth of approximately 430 meters in a cavity excavated in the bedrock of Eurajoki. The cavity is designed to hold nuclear waste generated during the entire lifetime of the three reactors at Olkiluoto and two at Loviisa, ie approximately 6,500 tonnes of uranium.

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The company has already been granted two decisions in principle and a building permit. The license will be applied for from March 2024 until the end of 2070. According to the application, during that period, the majority of the spent nuclear fuel in copper canisters will be placed in the ground.

The encapsulation and disposal facility is scheduled to operate for approximately one hundred years until all spent nuclear fuel has been disposed of.

The Ministry of Employment and the Economy (TEM) processes the license and submits it to the Government for approval. The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (Stuk) prepares a safety assessment and supervises the construction and commissioning of the nuclear facility.

The Ministry will also hold a public hearing on the permit application at a later date. It seeks the views of the authorities, communities and municipalities concerned and gives citizens and communities the opportunity to express their views and opinions.

Posiva has been preparing for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel for more than 40 years. Managing director Janne Mokka describes the submission of a license application as a significant step in the field of nuclear energy.

“We can all be proud that the various parties involved in the use of nuclear energy in Finland have acted in a long-term and responsible manner, and Posiva is therefore the first in the world to start the final disposal of spent fuel here in Olkiluoto,” Mokka says in the press release.