Although they are nearly at the final depth, the work thus far has been primarily to construct the 4-km long access tunnel. The facility is not scheduled to accept the nuclear waste until 2020 but once it does, it will have enough space for about 7 reactor’s worth of spent fuel for 100-years of their operation. That would put final sealing of the facility in 2120. One interesting thing that caught my attention is that according to Posiva, the agency responsible for facility, after 500 years the radiation dose standing next to one of the canisters would be equivalent to a CAT Scan. [Source: hs.fi via Ontario-geofish]
Miscellaneous
Nevada’s Yucca Mountain Case Versus DOE Thrown Out
The State of Nevada lost a major battle in their attempt to block the US Department of Energy’s attempt at licensing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The panel of judges in the case threw it out after a week of oral arguments by the State. According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, the Judge’s ruling stated "Nevada’s legal position is incorrect."
Project Related
Finnish Deep Nuclear Waste Disposal Reaches Milestone
Finland is leading the world when it comes to permanently disposing of spent nuclear fuel in a deep geologic repository. Their Onkalo facility recently completed excavation of the first of five final disposal tunnels, a […]
Project Related
Swedish Nuclear Waste Repository Could Begin Construction in 2016
ENR reports that a nuclear waste repository for spent nuclear fuel in Sweden could begin construction as early as 2016. The facility would consist of 50km of tunnels in granite bedrock up to 500-m deep. […]