Interim storage facility, encapsulation plant and final repository for spent nuclear fuel - Background material for decision on participation in consultations according to the Espoo (EIA) Convention. Updated January 2008

If an activity is likely to have a significant environmental impact in another country, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency shall, according to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo, 1991), known as the Espoo (EIA) Convention, “inform the competent authority in that country about the planned activity or measure and give the country concerned and the citizens who are affected the opportunity to take part in a consultation procedure concerning the application and the environmental impact assessment” (Environmental Code Chap. 6 Sec. 6).

 

Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB, SKB (the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co.), has been assigned the task of managing and disposing of the radioactive waste from the Swedish nuclear power plants. In order to dispose of the spent nuclear fuel, SKB plans to build an encapsulation plant, where the spent nuclear fuel is encapsulated in copper canisters, and a final repository at a depth of about 500 metres in the bedrock.

 

The encapsulation plant is planned to be built adjacent to the existing interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel (Clab) in Oskarshamn. Investigations have been conducted in Forsmark and Oskarshamn to explore the prospects for siting of the final repository. Data from the investigations are at present compiled and analysed. Both Oskarshamn and Forsmark are situated on the Baltic Sea coast in southern Sweden.

 

The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of SKB’s plans for disposal of the spent nuclear fuel and the consequences this activity is likely to have. Detailed information about: safety and radiation protection, the long term safety for a KBS-3 repository and the general structure of the EIS document for the final repository system are enclosed as appendences. Additional information can be found on SKB’s website and in SKB’s reports, the most important of which are available in English.