Wedoany.com Report-Dec 11,Finland’s Radiation & Nuclear Safety Authority Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK – Säteilyturvakeskus) – has been given another one-year extension to complete its review of Posiva Oy’s operating licence application for what will be the world’s first used nuclear fuel repository. The used fuel encapsulation plant and final disposal facility repository under construction at Olkiluoto is expected to begin operations in the mid-2020s.
Finnish radioactive waste management company Posiva applied to the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Employment in December 2021 for an operating licence for a period from March 2024 to the end of 2070. Before the government makes final decision on Posiva’s application, a positive opinion is first required from STUK.
The regulator began its review in May 2022 after concluding Posiva had provided sufficient material. The ministry had requested STUK’s opinion by the end of 2023 but in January STUK asked for the deadline for its opinion to be extended until the end of 2024. STUK now says Posiva “has not completed the materials necessary” for it to conduct a safety assessment and the ministry has agreed to extend the deadline for an opinion to 31 December 2025.
STUK said that, overall, it has progressed well in processing the operating licence application. However, due to the scope of the materials and the updates STUK required from Posiva the processing has taken longer than anticipated. STUK received new materials from Posiva this autumn. “In addition, Posiva has made changes to the technical plans for final disposal during the processing,” STUK noted. “Consequently, Posiva had to remake the materials concerning the changes. Processing updated and remade materials takes time and affects the timeline of the assessment.”
STUK Project Manager Antti Tynkkynen said: “We are therefore unable to promise an exact timetable. Once Posiva has demonstrated that the operation of the facilities and the safety of the final disposal meet the requirements, the safety assessment will be completed promptly. If Posiva material updates do not cause any further clarification, it is possible that the work will be completed by the end of the summer.”
Preliminary construction work at Onkalo, formerly an underground research facility, has been ongoing since June 2004, following four decades of site investigations. Finland’s government granted a decision in principle for the repository in 2000. Posiva received a construction licence for the repository from the government in 2015 and full construction work began in December 2016. The repository, which will store used fuel generated from TVO’s Olkiluoto and Fortum’s Loviisa NPPs, is expected to operate for about 100 years.
In late August Posiva began trial operation of the final disposal facility, but without the used fuel. This is intended to demonstrate the entire process for the safe disposal of used fuel. Since September, Posiva has successfully encapsulated and stored the first three canisters filled with non-radioactive test elements. The trial run is expected to conclude within the next year, paving the way for disposal activities to begin, once STUK has given its opinion.
