Finland Grants Operating Permit for First Deep Geological High-Level Nuclear Waste Facility

Finland became the first nation to receive a licence to operate a deep-geological repository for high-level nuclear waste, known as Onkalo, after a five-year assessment by the radiation-protection agency STUK. Minister of the Environment and Climate Sari Multala hailed the move as historic, and STUK director Petteri Tiippana noted the culmination of more than four decades of preparation. Posiva’s chief executive Ilkka Poikolainen emphasized that additional safety tests with STUK will be conducted before any spent fuel is emplaced.

The facility, situated near the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant on the western coast, will store spent fuel and other highly radioactive waste for the next 100 years before being permanently sealed. Import of foreign waste is now prohibited, though temporary handling of foreign material for repackaging is allowed. Critics, citing a Greenpeace study, warn that long-term corrosion of steel-copper canisters and interactions with bentonite and cement could jeopardise containment.