Underground Tunnel Set to be Blocked for 100,000 Years as Finland Pioneers Nuclear Waste Storage
Finland is set to make history by storing spent nuclear fuel in an underground tunnel, which will be sealed off to humans for 100,000 years. The facility, called Onkalo, is located 1,480 feet below ground and will be the world’s first tomb for spent nuclear fuel. The project has cost £860 million and has inspired other countries to adopt similar solutions for nuclear energy storage.
The tunnel, which is 2.8 miles long, will be closed off to humans in 2025 and will remain sealed for 100,000 years. The spent nuclear waste will be placed inside a cast-iron and copper cylinder and then wrapped in bentonite clay to enclose the sealed canister. The canister will then be taken to the deposition holes where it will remain forever.
A joint functional test was carried out at the site last year, which did not include the use of nuclear fuel. The excavation of the first five final disposal tunnels began after the test, and actual final disposal activities will begin in one of the tunnels around 2025.
The project has been hailed as a “model for the entire world” when it comes to the sustainable storage of nuclear energy. Professor Gareth Law, a radiochemist at the University of Helsinki, has said that Finland is “at least a decade ahead of everybody else” in terms of nuclear energy storage.
The facility will be a world-first, and it is expected to inspire other countries to adopt similar solutions for nuclear energy storage. The UK, US, France, and Canada are among the countries that are reportedly looking at the facility for inspiration.