RD&D-Programme 2004 - SKB

The time required for review of these applications is affected by several factors:
• The quality of SKB’s supporting material.
• The resources and capacity of the regulatory authorities and the Environmental Court to
handle and coordinate the matters.
• The will of the political bodies to make the final decisions.
Figure 2-3 shows a reasonable plan and timetable for the licensing process. The licensing
process begins with SKB’s permit application for the encapsulation plant in mid-2006, and
the total time estimated to be required for the process is 4.5 years.
Besides a detailed description of the plant, its safety and environmental impact, the permit
application for the encapsulation plant will also include:
• An account of alternative methods for spent fuel disposal.
• A comprehensive system assessment for encapsulation, transportation and deep disposal.
• An analysis of the long-term safety of encapsulated fuel in a deep repository.
It is assumed that the decision on the encapsulation plant will not be able to be made until some
time (around nine months) after the application for the deep repository has been submitted, at
which point SKB’s choice of site and a complete safety assessment for this site will be available
to all concerned. According to SKB, the review of the deep repository application should
be greatly facilitated by the fact that the review of the encapsulation plant (which delivers the
product that will be emplaced in the deep repository) will have been under way for two years
when the licensing process for the deep repository is begun.
Furthermore, it should be noted that according to the Government’s decision regarding SKB’s
integrated account of method, site selection and programme prior to the site investigation phase,
the KBS-3 method is a planning premise for the site investigations. The final approval of a
given method for final disposal will not be given before a final decision is announced on the
permit applications. In order to provide the necessary supporting material for such a decision,
SKB will, as is evident above, include in the permit application for the encapsulation plant and
associated environmental impact statement a description and evaluation of alternative methods
for management and final disposal of spent nuclear fuel. This means that the regulatory authorities
and the Government will be able to take a standpoint on SKB’s choice of method when they
consider the application for the encapsulation plant.
EIS
System analysis report
Facility
Canister
Safety
Plan (construction, operation)
Account of alternatives
Site selection
EIS
Revised system analysis report
Facility
Safety
Plan (construction, operation)
Account of alternatives
Permit application encapsulation
Permit application deep repository
Background material
Existing
Additional
Start of
decision process
mid-2006
Decision
encapsulation
late 2008
Decision
deep repository
end of 2010
Figure 2-3. Applications and decision process for encapsulation plant and deep repository.
RD&D-Programme 2004 33