9 Nov (NucNet): Swedish nuclear fuel and waste management company SKB has submitted to the Swedish nuclear power inspectorate (SKI) an application for a permit for an encapsulation plant in Oskarshamn.
SKB said the plant will be built next to the existing interim storage facility (Clab). The new plant and the interim storage facility will eventually be operated together.
The encapsulation plant comprises the first step towards final disposal of spent nuclear fuel according to the KBS-3 method, which entails that fuel is encapsulated in copper canisters deposited at a depth of approximately 500 metres in the Swedish bedrock, embedded in bentonite clay.
The encapsulation plant will make use of pioneering technology, for example to weld the lids on the canisters after the fuel has been placed in them.
“The permit application is based on the results of approximately 30 years of systematic research and technology development and represents a major step forward towards the long-term safe disposal of the spent nuclear fuel”, said SKB president Claes Thegerstrom.
SKB does not expect the regulatory authorities or the government to make a final ruling on the application until after 2009, when the application for the final deep geological repository itself is submitted. A comprehensive environmental review of the entire final repository system will begin.
Site investigations for a final repository are being carried around Forsmark in the municipality of Osthammar and in the Laxemar area of the municipality of Oskarshamn. These investigations are based on the KBS-3 method.
Last week SKB said results from bedrock investigations at the sites were promising, but more data will be needed to complete the picture.
In 2004, the projected cost of a final repository was estimated at 23 billion Swedish kronor (3.1 billion US dollars, 2.5 billion euros). A final decision on where it will be located is expected from the Swedish government in 2010.
