Rock work can begin on the expansion of SFR

Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (SKB), the Swedish radioactive waste management company, announced that has received permission to start rock work in the expansion of the final repository for short-lived radioactive waste, SFR, in Forsmark. The permit was issued by the Radiation Safety Authority, SSM.

SKB, received an environmental permit from the Land and Environmental Court for the expansion in December 2022, which meant that work above ground could begin. SSM’s permit is the next important step in the permit review according to the Nuclear Technology Act and means that SKB can start underground work.

“It is an important step for SKB, we are happy that the announcement has come so that we can now start the next phase in the expansion of SFR. We now have all the permits in place to expand the facility so that we can receive our owners’ operational and demolition waste. We look forward to starting rock work in mid-December,” said Stefan Engdahl, CEO of SKB.

In March 2023, SKB submitted an application for construction and operation of the expanded SFR to SSM. The application includes, among other things, a preliminary safety report, system descriptions and a decommissioning plan. A new safety report must be submitted and approved before the facility is put into operation.

SFR is part of SKB’s final disposal system and the existing facility already stores short-lived operational waste from the Swedish nuclear power plants and radioactive waste from healthcare, industry and research. The existing part of the repository is located at a depth of approximately 60 meters and has a storage capacity of 63,000 cubic meters, and the planned new part of the repository is to be located at a depth of 120-160 meters. The expansion consists of six different storage rooms and when the expansion is complete, the facility will have a total storage capacity of approximately 180,000 cubic meters. Expanding the SFR will take approximately six years, three years of rock work and three years of installation work.

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Photo credit: SKB (https://skb.se/nyhet/bergarbeten-kan-paborjas-i-utbyggnaden-av-sfr/)