The site selection stood between Forsmark in the municipality of Östhammar municipality and Laxemar in the municipality of Oskarshamn. All spent nuclear fuel from Swedish nuclear power plants will be disposed of in the final repository at a depth of nearly 500 metres in the crystalline bedrock.
– The selection of a site is a milestone for the Swedish nuclear waste programme. We see a clear advantage for Forsmark concerning long-term safety, says SKB President Claes Thegerström.
– We are now focusing our work on putting together the needed documentation to submit a licence application for constructing a safe repository for nuclear fuel in Forsmark.
The Forsmark site offers rock at the repository level which is dry and has few fractures. These properties are of a major significance for long-term safety. In addition, a repository in Forsmark would require less space compared to a repository in Laxemar, which is an advantage. This means that less rock needs to be excavated and less material will be needed for backfilling.
Surface facilities will be constructed in the existing industrial area, which reduces the environmental impact and provides access to the infrastructure of the area.
SKB will now proceed to complete applications for permits that will be reviewed by the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority and the Environmental Court. The applications will be submitted in 2010 and include the environmental impact assessment and a safety analysis for a nuclear fuel repository in Forsmark.
Apart from the future nuclear fuel repository, the system for managing spent nuclear fuel will also include the existing interim storage facility in Oskarshamn, Clab, and an encapsulation plant adjacent to Clab for which SKB has already applied for a building permit.
The selection of the site is the result of close to 20 years of work during which SKB has conducted surveys throughout Sweden and feasibility studies in eight municipalities. These were followed by site investigations in Forsmark and Oskarshamn between 2002 to 2007.