Finland Becomes First Country to Open Permanent Nuclear Repository

Finland's administration has granted an operating licence for the world's first permanent repository for radioactive spent nuclear fuel, waste management business Posiva noted Thursday, 22 years after construction began on the site.

Key points

• With space for 6, 500 tonnes of uranium, Onkalo will provide permanent storage for spent fuel from Finland's five nuclear reactors.
• "This is a great and historic day for both Posiva and Finland, " Posiva chief executive Ilkka Poikolainen remarked in an official note.
• The cost of the Onkalo site has been estimated at $1.16 billion.
• The site, dubbed Onkalo, which means "cave" in Finnish, is projected to start operations shortly, but Posiva noted no exact date has been decided yet.
• Final repositories are being built in neighbouring Sweden and France, but Finland is projected to be the first to open its underground storage facility.

Blasted into 1.9 billion-year-old stable bedrock in Eurajoki in southwestern Finland, the geological repository will house spent nuclear fuel in holes drilled into the bedrock, where it will remain harmfully radioactive for thousands of years.

"This is a great and historic day for both Posiva and Finland, " Posiva chief executive Ilkka Poikolainen remarked in an official note. Solar Overtakes Nuclear as Pakistan's Top Electricity Source in 2025.

For context, the site, dubbed Onkalo, which means "cave" in Finnish, is projected to start operations shortly, but Posiva noted no exact date has been decided yet.

Before final disposal begins, Posiva will finalise the commissioning stage, carrying out the necessary tests and inspections that the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) additionally needs to verify and approve.

Meanwhile, the fuel will be encapsulated in copper canisters highly resistant to corrosion, then lowered into holes drilled in tunnels in the bedrock. It will be filled with bentonite clay and finally sealed with a steel-reinforced concrete plug.

Meanwhile, the fuel will remain highly radioactive for tens of thousands of years. After regarding 100, 000 years, its levels will be roughly the same as the uranium ore from which the fuel is produced, according to Posiva. Pakistan as an Emerging Power in Global Minerals.

Countries have been wrestling with what to do with dangerous nuclear by-products since the first plants were built in the 1950s, with most of it at present in temporary storage.

Notably, the cost of the Onkalo site has been estimated at $1.16 billion. Stay Connected with ProPakistani. Obtain the latest international news and global stories wherever you prefer. Follow on Google Discover. Follow on Google News Join WhatsApp. See more ProPakistani stories in Google Search and Top Stories.

For now, finland Becomes First Country to Open Permanent Nuclear Repository remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.