Finland could become the world’s first country to permanently bury nuclear waste

Along with his colleagues, it was published by Jinshan Pan, professor of corrosion science at the Royal Institute of Technology of KTH, Sweden. study In January 2023, we focused on the risk of sulfides in groundwater and corroded the copper used in nuclear fuel containers. “More work is required to define the nature and chemistry of surface films that develop on copper surfaces in repository conditions,” the paper says.

Posiva Oy appears to have its first feature repository, but other countries are following its lead. Nearby Sweden is also preparing to begin work with its own repository aimed at including up to 12,000 tons of Swedish nuclear fuel. At a depth of 500 meters, upon completion, the tunnel is expected to extend over 60 kilometers of tunnels. This is a major task that has been on the drawing table for 40 years and has been obtained the environmental permits required for construction just a few months ago. Construction could begin within the next decade and lasted until the 2080s, with the repository’s underground space gradually expanding. This provides an appeal by the office made for Swedish NGOs that were made for nuclear waste reviews. Concerns about the Swedish project are the same as those in Finland: there is a risk of corrosion in copper cans, possibly causing radioactive elements to be released into the groundwater.

Canada, on the other side of the Atlantic, is also planning to build a storage facility. The repository does not exist yet, but the path ahead appears relatively unobstructed. At least there’s nothing obvious legal. After 14 years of dialogue and discussion, related institutions and citizens chose the host site for the town of Ignas, Ontario. Both the town and the country were open to the project and were seen as sources of investment and new work.

France and Switzerland are also working on projects, and are gradually making progress, even if it is the issue of overcoming bureaucratic hurdles. In the Meuse region of northeastern France, Cigeo Project In 2027, I received a positive review of its health so I can start. Implementing company Andra is permitted to continue its plans, taking into account more of the potential impact of climate change on ground structure.

For 14 years, he acquired Nagra, the Swiss National Radioactive Waste Diagnostic Cooperative, to decide where to place the storage facility. I chose to build a repository north of Zurich in Nördlich Lägern. This is an area that is particularly rich in very compact oparin clay and is ideal for serving as a long-term container for radioactive materials. (The Finnish website is also rich in this material.) Final approval is expected around 2030, and will be subject to a referendum, and the repository should begin working by 2060.

Finally, Italy is considering 51 sites that may be suitable for hosting nuclear waste storage repositories. These plans were first created in 2015 and then published in December 2023. The government has since decided to resume the application process to accommodate new applications. In the meantime, domestic radioactive waste remains stored in temporary repositories of decommissioned nuclear power plants, nuclear research facilities, and nuclear medicine and industrial sites.

This story originally appeared Wired Italy Translated from Italian.