The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, the Swedish Friends of the Earth, MKG and other member organisations of MKG on 27 April 2022 requested a judicial review from the Supreme Administrative Court, HFD, of the government’s decision on January 27, 2022, to approve the repository for spent nuclear fuel¨. On January 27, 2023, the organisations provided the court with new supplemental information for the review.
Addition: New supplemental information was also submitted on May 8, 2023.
In the submissions the organisations provide further support for the fact that there is a lack of knowledge regarding the function of the artificial barriers, especially the copper canister, to be used in the repository for spent nuclear that the nuclear waste company SKB wants to build in Forsmark.
In the original request, the organisations have as a basis for the appeal stated that there is a lack of sufficient knowledge about all of the nuclear fuel repository's barrier functions to validate the assumptions made in the models in the safety analysis. According to the general consideration rules in the Environmental Code, a condition for obtaining a license for the repository is that sufficient knowledge exists at the time permission is granted. In addition, the precautionary principle must be observed during the permit review according to the Environmental Code.
The organisations initially summarise their argument on these issues in the supplement on Jan 27, 2022 [MKG:s translation]:
"As can be seen in the decisions to approve the repository for spent nuclear fuel, the government has mainly supported the approach taken by the Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) that there are conditions for the repository to be sufficiently safe. SSM's position is based on what the authority calls a "holistic view" where the two artificial barriers (copper canister and clay buffer around the canister) and the third barrier, the rock, together always provide the conditions for sufficient long-term environmental safety. According to the authority, the three barriers together always function as a sufficiently robust isolation of the deposited spent nuclear fuel to prevent harmful radioactive substances from reaching humans and the environment. Thus, the authority is of the opinion that it is uninteresting to have sufficient knowledge about how the individual barriers work as they work well enough together.
The organisations claim that the authority and the government have not shown that such a “holistic view” of the three barriers really means that a lower proof requirement regarding the functioning of each barrier can be set. There must be sufficient scientifically proven grounds for the barriers to work individually and together as intended in the safety analysis. It is unclear whether the knowledge of the barriers, the clay buffer and the rock, is sufficient, but the associations have already shown in the application that the knowledge of the function and long-term integrity of the copper canister is not sufficient."
In the supplied new information, the organisations highlight new information regarding problems with the copper canister that have that emerged in the nuclear waste company SKB's R&D programme report “Fud-22”, and that researchers at KTH have continued to research how copper works in a nuclear fuel storage environment and have also begun to use more advanced research techniques to develop further.
Addition: In the supplemental information submitted Mn may 8, 2023, the organisations refer to new research and scientific correspondence that show problems with the long-term integrity of the copper canister.
More information can be found in news articles on MKG's Swedish web site (Jan 27, 2022) and web site (May 8, 2023).
Other links:
News on MKG's English website about SKB R&D programme report "Fud-22”, 230223 >