Employees examine the repository at ONKALO, an underground deep geological disposal facility designed to soundly retailer nuclear waste, on Might 2, 2023 on Eurajoki island, western Finland.
Jonathan Nakstrand | Afp | Getty Photos
Finland is about to bury spent nuclear gasoline on the earth’s first geological tomb, the place it will likely be saved for 100,000 years.
The pioneering venture was welcomed as each a watershed second for the long-term sustainability of nuclear energy and a “mannequin for the entire world”.
Sooner or later both subsequent yr or early 2026, the extremely radioactive spent nuclear gasoline shall be packed into watertight canisters and deposited in bedrock greater than 400 meters beneath the forests of southwestern Finland.
The sturdy copper packing containers shall be insulated, separated from people, and stored underground for 1000’s of years.
“Onkalo”, which is the trademark of the long-term burial facility, is the Finnish phrase for a small cave or pit. It is an apt identify for the repository, which sits atop a maze of tunnels and sits subsequent to a few nuclear reactors on the island of Olkiluoto, roughly 240 kilometers from the capital Helsinki.
A employee walks within the turbine corridor related to OL3, the latest of three reactors on the Olkiluoto nuclear energy plant on Might 2, 2023 on Eurajoki island, western Finland.
Jonathan Nakstrand | Afp | Getty Photos
Established in 1995, Posiva is charged with the duty of dealing with the ultimate disposal of spent nuclear gasoline rods at Onkalo. The Finnish firm is collectively owned by nuclear energy firm TVO and utility Fortum.
“Basically, the Onkalo venture is that we’re constructing an encapsulation plant and a spent gasoline disposal facility. And it isn’t non permanent, it is without end,” Pasi Tuohimaa, Posiva’s head of communications, advised CNBC by way of video convention.
The truth that Finland [has] we have constructed a repository now and within the subsequent yr or two we’ll be exploiting it and beginning the disposal course of… I do not wish to name it a miracle, however it would not be a foul method to body it in a worldwide context.
Gareth Lowe
Professor of Radiochemistry on the College of Helsinki
Tuohimaa mentioned the first-of-its-kind geological disposal facility has obtained lots of curiosity from trade gamers, citing what he described as a nuclear “revival” lately and Ann energy crisis which coated Europe and components of Asia from mid-2021 to late 2022.
“Having an answer for the ultimate disposal of spent gasoline was just like the lacking piece of the sustainable life cycle of nuclear energy,” Tuohimaa mentioned.
The position of nuclear power
The Onkalo venture has ignited a debate about whether or not one can assure the long-term security of spent nuclear waste and the extent to which nuclear power needs to be used within the struggle in opposition to climate crisis.
Nuclear energy presently supplies about 9% of the world’s electrical energy, according to to the World Nuclear Affiliation.
As a result of it’s low in carbon, defenders they argue that nuclear energy has the potential to play a major position in serving to international locations generate electrical energy whereas lowering emissions and lowering their dependence on fossil fuels.
Some environmental teams, nonetheless say the nuclear trade is an costly and dangerous distraction to cheaper and cleaner alternate options.
Finland is able to bury spent nuclear gasoline on the earth’s first geological tomb. The Onkalo web site is positioned subsequent to a few nuclear reactors on the island of Olkiluoto in southwestern Finland.
Credit score: Posiva
“I work in each nuclear waste disposal and nuclear accidents and have skilled the most effective and the worst of what the nuclear trade has to supply,” mentioned Gareth Lowe, professor of radiochemistry on the College of Helsinki. , to CNBC by way of video convention.
“Clear power, low-cost power, good baseload, however I’ve additionally seen the draw back, breakdowns, waste technology and the issues we now have there,” he continued.
“To have a rustic now demonstrating that you may really take this very hazardous waste that is going to be right here 100,000 years into the longer term, and we even have an answer for disposing of it, I believe that exhibits it may be accomplished . “
Finland ‘not less than a decade forward’
Lo described the Onkalo venture as a “huge milestone” for each Finland and the worldwide nuclear energy trade.
“Posiva are very proper to market this as a world first. It is going to be the primary repository to take spent nuclear gasoline and eliminate it in a means that I believe shall be very protected and steady going ahead.”
Lo mentioned that whereas many international locations will wish to comply with in Finland’s footsteps on the subject of geological disposal of spent nuclear gasoline, the Scandinavian nation is “not less than a decade” forward of neighboring Sweden, the following nation more likely to obtain such a feat.
Guests are proven the repository at ONKALO, an underground deep geological disposal facility designed to soundly retailer nuclear waste, on Might 2, 2023 on the island of Eurajoki, western Finland.
Jonathan Nakstrand | Afp | Getty Photos
“From a scientific and engineering perspective, it is a very tough factor to place in place and implement, but additionally politically it is very, very tough to get the push to do that disposal state of affairs,” Lo mentioned.
“There are various international locations around the globe which are nonetheless within the technique of planning and even simply looking for someplace to dump the waste. So, the truth that Finland [has] we have constructed a repository now and within the subsequent yr or two we’ll be working it and beginning the disposal course of… I do not wish to name it a miracle, however it would not be a foul method to body it in a worldwide context.”
“Mannequin for the entire world”
The Onkalo venture is based utilizing the so-called “KBS-3” methodology developed by the Swedish Nuclear Gasoline and Waste Administration Firm, which is engaged on what could possibly be the world’s second remaining repository.
KBS-3 relies on a multi-barrier principlethe place a number of engineering limitations search to make sure the long-term security of spent nuclear gasoline. In observe, which means that if one of many limitations fails, the isolation of the radioactive waste just isn’t compromised.
“It is a method to present that such a small nation is usually capable of resolve one in all possibly 20 of humanity’s greatest issues or challenges,” Finland’s local weather minister Kai Mikkenen advised CNBC by way of video convention.
“As we have seen over the past 10 years, nuclear energy appears to be wanted in an important means for green deal in Europe … however particularly if we wish to see Asia and the US transfer away from fossil gasoline electrical energy technology,” he added.
The repository at ONKALO, an underground deep geological disposal facility designed to soundly retailer nuclear waste, is pictured on Might 2, 2023 on the island of Eurajoki, western Finland.
Jonathan Nakstrand | Afp | Getty Photos
When requested if the Onkalo venture could possibly be seen as an answer to the sustainability of nuclear waste, Mykkänen replied: “Sure, undoubtedly.”
He added: “I am certain that the apparent majority of the Finnish inhabitants, and in addition a fair bigger inhabitants close to Onkalo, they see it in an analogous means. Folks actually see it as an answer that replaces extra dangerous power.”
Mykkänen mentioned he hoped the Onkalo venture can be “a mannequin for the entire world”.
