RD&D-Programme 2004 - SKB

2 Plan of action
The planning for the future facilities can be divided into two parts: the nuclear fuel system
and the waste system for low- and intermediate-level waste (LILW). The emphasis in the work
during the upcoming programme period 2005–2010 will be on the nuclear fuel programme.
Planning and construction of the remaining parts of the LILW system are dependent on the
timing of the decommissioning of the nuclear power plants.
In the review statement regarding RD&D-Programme 2001 which SKI submitted to the
Government in March 2002, the Inspectorate called for a clearer account of SKB’s plans for
the remainder of the nuclear waste programme. As a reason for this request, SKI said that the
competent authorities will need to know which regulatory reviews are anticipated over the
next ten years and the extent to which these reviews depend on each other. Based on this, the
Government stated in a decision from December 2002 that they “assume that SKB is conducting
a dialogue with concerned authorities and municipalities and that an account of SKB’s timetable
with associated plan of action concerning a safe final disposal of the nuclear waste will be
included in RD&D-Programme 2004”.
Against this background, SKB began the work of updating its planning and compiling the
material requested by the regulatory authorities. A milestone was passed in the spring of 2003,
when SKB decided to revise the timetable for the nuclear fuel programme. A similar revision
has since been done of the programme for low- and intermediate-level waste. The plans that
have been drawn up have been presented on different consultation occasions. Figure 2-1 shows
SKB’s plan for the remainder of the Swedish nuclear waste programme.
A brief description of SKB’s activity plans is provided in sections 2.1 (the nuclear fuel programme)
and 2.2 (the LILW programme). Appendix A contains the complete plan. The plans
for the research, development and demonstration activities needed to carry out the programmes
are presented in Chapters 4–25.
Start of operation
Start of construction
Application
2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Deep repository
Nuclear fuel programme
Feasibility
studies
Site investigations,
design
Encapsulation
Development, design
Construction,
detailed characterization
Construction,
trial operation
Initial
operation
Regular operation
Final disposal, operational and decommissioning waste (SFR)
LILW programme
Design, build-out Operation
Interim storage, core components
Existing facilities
Final disposal, other long-lived waste
Siting
Construction
Operation
Figure 2-1. Plan for the remainder of the Swedish nuclear waste programme.
RD&D-Programme 2004 29