On September 14, the Swedish NGO Office for Nuclear Waste Review, MKG, sent a statement to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment regarding Posiva Oy's application for an operating license for the Onkalo repository for spent nuclear fuel in Olkilouto. In the statement MKG addresses the same issues that are put forward in the application for judicial review on the Swedish government's decision for a repository for spent nuclear that the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, the Swedish Friends of the Earth and MKG submitted to the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court in April 2022. The application is submitted as an appendix to the statement.
The Swedish NGO Office for Nuclear Waste Review, MKG, has on September 14 sent a statement to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in Finland. The statement concerns the Finnish nuclear waste company Posiva Oy's application for an operating permit for a repository for spent nuclear fuel. The statement was submitted in both Swedish and English and is available for download below.
The Finnish method that is going to be used in their repository system for spent nuclear fuel is based on the Swedish KBS method developed by the Swedish nuclear waste company SKB. Due to a faster decision-making process compared to the one in Sweden, the Finnish building permit was granted already in 2015 and the repository is soon ready for operation. The Finnish nuclear waste company Posiva Oy is seeking an operational license after submitting an application at the end of December 2021.
The unresolved issues that remain in Sweden are to a very high degree also current for the Finnish repository. MKG has therefore addressed in its statement:
- The issue of the problem of the long-term integrity of the copper canister
- The issue of the importance of the copper canister barrier in the safety case
- The difference between the Swedish and Finnish safety case with regard to the multi-barrier concept
- The importance of further research on the long-term integrity of the copper canister
- The lack of a plan to carry information into the future
These are the same issues that are put forward in the application for judicial review on the Swedish government's decision for a repository for spent nuclear that the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, the Swedish Friends of the Earth and MKG submitted to the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court in April 2022. The application is submitted as an appendix to the statement.
The statement is linked below. The Swedish version of the statement can be found here. The appendix to the statement, i.e., the application for judicial review to the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court can be found here.
