A worker inspects a vault at the Onkalo deep geological disposal facility, a facility designed to safely store nuclear waste, on the island of Eurajoki in western Finland, May 2, 2023.
Jonathan Nackstrand | AFP | Getty Images
Finland is planning to bury spent nuclear fuel in the world's first geological graveyard, where it will be stored for 100,000 years.
The pioneering project has been hailed as a milestone for the long-term sustainability of nuclear energy as well as a “model for the whole world.”
Either next year or early 2026, the highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel will be packed into waterproof containers and buried more than 400 metres underground in bedrock in a forest in southwestern Finland.
The durable copper containers will be sequestered, isolated from humans and stored underground for thousands of years.
The long-term repository's trademark name, Onkalo, means small cave or hole in Finnish, an apt name for the site, which sits on a maze of tunnels next to the three reactors on Olkiluoto island, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) from the capital, Helsinki.
A worker walks through the turbine room connected to OL3, the newest of the three reactors at the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant on the island of Eurajoki in western Finland, on May 2, 2023.
Jonathan Nackstrand | AFP | Getty Images
Founded in 1995, Posiva is responsible for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel rods from the Onkalo nuclear power plant. The Finnish company is jointly owned by nuclear power company TVO and power utility Fortum.
“Basically, the Onkalo project is about building an encapsulation plant and a disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel — and it's not a temporary facility, it's a permanent one,” Pasi Tuohimaa, Posiva's public affairs director, told CNBC via video conference.
The fact that Finland has already built a repository and will be operational and starting the disposal process within the next year or two…I wouldn't call it a miracle, but it's not a bad way to put it in a global context.
Gareth Law
Professor of Radiochemistry, University of Helsinki
Tuohymer said the first-of-its-kind geological disposal facility has attracted a lot of interest from industry players, citing the recent so-called nuclear “renaissance” and the energy crisis that hit parts of Europe and Asia from mid-2021 to late 2022.
“A solution for the final disposal of spent fuel is kind of the missing piece in a sustainable life cycle of nuclear energy,” Tuohimah said.
The role of nuclear power
The Onkalo project has sparked debate about whether anyone can guarantee the long-term safety of spent nuclear waste and to what extent nuclear power should be used in the fight against the climate crisis.
According to the World Nuclear Association, nuclear energy currently provides about 9% of the world's electricity.
Because nuclear energy is low-carbon, proponents argue it could play a key role in helping countries generate electricity while also reducing emissions and dependency on fossil fuels.
But some environmental groups argue the nuclear industry is an expensive and harmful obstacle to cheaper, cleaner alternatives.
Finland is preparing to become the first country in the world to bury spent nuclear fuel in a geological formation at the Onkalo site, next to three nuclear reactors on the island of Olkiluoto in southwestern Finland.
Credit: Posiva
“I've worked in both nuclear waste disposal and nuclear accidents, so I've seen both the best and the worst that the nuclear industry has to offer,” Gareth Low, a professor of radiochemistry at the University of Helsinki, told CNBC via video conference.
“Clean energy, cheap energy, good baseload, but we've seen the bad side too – the accidents, the waste generation and the problems we have,” he continued.
“I think the fact that we have a country that has demonstrated that they can actually deal with this very hazardous waste that will be here for the next 100,000 years or more, and that they actually have a way to dispose of it, shows that it can be done.”
Finland is “at least 10 years ahead”
Low described the Onkalo project as a “major milestone” for Finland and the global nuclear industry.
“Posiva is quite rightly touting this as a world first. This will be the first repository to house spent nuclear fuel and dispose of it in a very safe and robust way well into the future.”
Low said that while many countries would like to follow Finland's lead when it comes to geological disposal of spent nuclear fuel, the Nordic nation is “at least 10 years” ahead of neighbouring Sweden, which is likely to be the next to achieve a similar feat.
A visitor is shown around the vault at the Onkalo deep geological disposal facility, a facility designed to safely store nuclear waste, on the island of Eurajoki in western Finland on May 2, 2023.
Jonathan Nackstrand | AFP | Getty Images
“Scientifically and technically, this is very difficult to implement and enforce, but politically, it's also very difficult to get the impetus to implement this disposal scenario,” Lo said.
“There are many countries around the world that are still in the planning stages and looking for places to dispose of their waste. So the fact that Finland is now building a waste repository and will be operational in the next year or two and starting the disposal process… I don't want to call it a miracle, but it's not a bad description in the global context.”
“An example for the whole world”
The Onkalo project is based on the so-called “KBS-3” method developed by the Swedish nuclear waste management company, which is working on building what could be the world's second final repository.
KBS-3 is based on the multi-barrier principle and aims to ensure the long-term safety of spent nuclear fuel through several engineered barriers – in fact, even if one of the barriers is breached, the isolation of the radioactive waste will not be compromised.
“This is a way to show that such a small country can solve one of probably the top 20 problems or challenges of humanity,” Finland's Climate Minister Kai Mikkanen told CNBC via video conference.
“As we have seen over the last decade, nuclear power seems very much necessary for the European Green Deal… but also especially if Asia and the US want to phase out fossil fuel generation,” he added.
The repository at the Onkalo deep geological disposal facility, designed to safely store nuclear waste, is pictured on May 2, 2023 on the island of Eurajoki in western Finland.
Jonathan Nackstrand | AFP | Getty Images
Asked whether the Onkalo project could be seen as a solution to the sustainability of nuclear waste, Mykkanen replied: “Of course.”
“I'm sure the majority of Finns, and even more people near Onkalo, see this the same way. They really see this as an alternative solution to more harmful energy,” he added.
Mykkanen said he hopes the Onkalo project can serve as a “model for the whole world.”
