The fact that Östhammar’s City Council approves a final repository for spent nuclear fuel in the municipality is welcomed in Oskarshamn, where the radioactive waste is temporarily stored.
The municipality of Oskarshamn has written to the Minister of the Environment and asked for a timetable for the government’s review, says municipal director Rolf Persson in Oskarshamn municipality. The municipality is concerned that the CLAB intermediate warehouse will not be more permanent than planned:
– SKB submitted the application in 2011, it has been going on for a very long time. It feels important that they come to a decision from the government as well, says Rolf Persson.
The intermediate bearing is operated of the nuclear waste company SKB, is located next to the nuclear power plant in Oskarshamn. There, all nuclear fuel used so far in Sweden, just over 7,000 tonnes, is in water basins down in the rock and cooled while waiting to be taken to the final repository.
According to some researchers, there are still uncertainties about the durability of the final repository’s barriers. The expert authority, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, assesses that question marks can be straightened out while the facility is being built, but research is ongoing and the government will decide whether it can take a position without a final decision.
Construction of the final repository has been postponed for several years longer than originally intended. While waiting for the final repository, SKB has applied to expand the intermediate storage capacity from 8,000 to 11,000 tonnes, in order to be able to receive more spent nuclear fuel in Oskarshamn. It can be done without risk to safety, the permit, says SKB’s CEO Johan Dasht:
– This with safety is unchanged, even if we would have more fuel there. There is no physical limitation, it is linked to the condition we have and how much fuel we can store there.
– If the government comes to the conclusion that there are remaining uncertainties and the final repository decision is delayed, what does that mean for the intermediate storage?
– I am very optimistic that we will get a decision long before the intermediate warehouse is full, says Johan Dasht.
– The issue is handled by us, by the Land and Environmental Court and by the expert authority. It is more about getting a political decision and that we can move on to the next phase. I am very optimistic that we will not end up in the situation that CLAB will be full, says Johan Dasht, CEO of SKB, Swedish Nuclear Fuel Management.