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Finland Opens World's First Permanent Nuclear Waste Cave
1 Jun
Summary
- Finland is set to open Onkalo, the world's first permanent nuclear waste repository.
- The facility, blasted into ancient bedrock, will store waste for at least 100,000 years.
- Onkalo aims for safe containment of radioactive materials for millennia.
Finland is on the verge of opening Onkalo, a deep geological repository designed for the permanent storage of spent nuclear fuel. This facility, named "cave" in Finnish, is nearing completion in Eurajoki, southwest Finland, and is blasted into 1.9 billion-year-old bedrock.
Construction began in 2004, with an estimated cost of one billion euros. The repository is intended to house spent fuel from Finland's five nuclear reactors, with space for 6,500 tons of uranium. It is designed for safe storage for at least 100,000 years.
