Expansion of Swedish repository under way
Blasting work 45 metres below ground has begun, marking the start of the expansion of Sweden's existing SFR final repository for low and intermediate-level waste at Forsmark. The extension - expected to take six years to complete - will triple the capacity of the repository.
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The SFR repository is situated 60 metres below the bottom of the Baltic Sea and began operations in 1988. The facility comprises four 160-metre-long rock vaults and a chamber in the bedrock with a 50-metre-high concrete silo for the most radioactive waste. Two parallel kilometre-long access tunnels link the facility to the surface. The facility currently has a total final disposal capacity of about 63,000 cubic metres of waste.
Most of the short-lived waste deposited in the SFR comes from Swedish nuclear power plants, but radioactive waste from hospitals, veterinary medicine, research and industry is also deposited within it.
Sweden's radioactive waste management company Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (SKB) is extending the repository so that it can accommodate waste from the decommissioning and dismantling of the country's nuclear power plants. This will include reactor components, concrete and other building materials.
The plan is that the repository, when extended, will have six new rock vaults, 240-275 metres long. The intention is to construct the extension at a depth of 120-140 metres, level with the lowest part of the current SFR repository. On completion the facility will have a total storage capacity of approximately 180,000 cubic metres.
The blue area shows where SKB plans to extend the existing SFR repository (Image: SKB)
Rock construction work got under way in December 2024, and on 23 January the official launch of blasting took place together with construction firm Skanska, which is delivering the extension project in collaboration with SKB.
SKB CEO Stefan Engdahl, together with Ida Tjerngren, project manager for the extension, Skanska Sweden CEO Magnus Persson, Fabian Sjöberg, Municipal Commissioner of Östhammar and Daniel Westlén, State Secretary to the Minister for Climate and Environment, jointly pressed the button to initiate one of the first explosive charges, which symbolised the start of work on the extension.
"It feels really good that we've now started rock excavation in Forsmark," Engdahl said. "The extension of SFR is an important precondition for fossil-free electricity production at the nuclear power plants, now and in the future."
SKB signed a collaboration agreement with Skanska in July 2023 regarding the expansion of the SFR repository.
"That Skanska is involved in contributing to societal development with this truly unique project is a prestigious honour," Persson said. "We have a close collaboration with SKB, and this project is a great example of how successful things can be when we share expertise, experiences, and knowledge with one another."
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