Nuclear waste management in Sweden: Positive assessment for SKB’s spent fuel encapsulation plant


The Swedish nuclear regulator has come to the preliminary conclusion that SKB’s planned spent nuclear fuel encapsulation plant can meet all the safety and radiation protection requirements.

In Sweden, applications for constructing a repository for spent nuclear fuel and a plant for encapsulating the fuel prior to disposal are currently under review. The waste management organisation SKB submitted the applications in 2011 and has since made numerous clarifications and additions. Sweden’s Radiation Safety Authority (Strålsäkerhetsmyndigheten, SSM) has now outlined the preliminary findings of its review, namely that the encapsulation plant can meet all the safety and radiation protection requirements. The final assessment of SSM on the repository and the plant is expected for 2017. The Swedish government will then make the final decision on authorisation of the project. Once the government has made its decision, the applications will be referred back to SSM, which will stipulate the terms and conditions to be fulfilled by SKB for the facilities.

Further information
Article from World Nuclear News on the preliminary review findings

News from SKB on the preliminary review findings (in Swedish)

Information from SKB on the spent fuel encapsulation plant

Image source: www.skb.com