Euradwaste '08 - EU Bookshop - Europa

Cooperation in the development of geological disposal concepts –
Benefits and challenges
Monica Hammarström, SKB, Juhani Vira, Posiva
Research and development supporting the development of a final disposal concept for
spent nuclear fuel
This presentation will give an example of how research and development performed in international
cooperation in the field of spent nuclear fuel have supported the development of a
concept for final disposal of spent nuclear fuel.
1. Nuclear Power in Sweden and Finland
Both Sweden and Finland have been operating nuclear power reactors since the 1970s. The Swedish
nuclear power programme consists of 12 reactors. Two of the reactors, situated at Barsebäck
were shut down in 1999 and 2005 due to political decisions. The reactors in operation (9,000 MWe
net total) generated around 70 billion kWh in 2007 which corresponds to almost half of the country’s
electricity. An extensive uprate programme is ongoing for the Swedish reactors to compensate
for the loss of the production from the Barsebäck reactors.
The Finnish nuclear programme consists of 4 reactors at two sites. The two reactors situated at
Olkiluoto are operated by Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO) and the two at the Loviisa site are operated
by Fortum Power & Heat Oy (Fortum). A 5 th reactor is being constructed at the Olkiluoto site.
The plans are to start the operation of that reactor in 2011. The existing reactors (2,696 MWe net
total) generated 22.5 billion kWh net in 2007, which equals to about one quarter of the country's
electricity.
In March 2007 TVO and Fortum announced that they were each about to commence environmental
impact assessments (EIA) for new nuclear power units at the Olkiluoto and Loviisa sites respectively.
This would clear the way for either company to seek government approval for a new unit,
though no investment decision had been made. TVO's EIA for Olkiluoto-4 was submitted to the
government in February 2008, for a 1,000-1,800 MWe PWR or BWR unit. Fortum's plans for an
EIA on a 1,000-1,800 MWe unit at Loviisa were submitted in June 2007.
In June 2007 a new consortium of industrial and energy companies announced plans to establish a
joint venture company - Fennovoima Oy - to construct a new nuclear power plant in Finland. The
group consisted initially of stainless steel producer Outokumpu, mining and melting company Boliden,
energy utilities Rauman Energia and Katterno Group, and electricity supplier E.On Suomi
(the Finnish subsidiary of Germany-based E.On) which is leading the project. Then the ownership
base expanded from five to over 60 as electricity consumers sought to insure against future energy
cost blowouts.
2. The waste issue became a political issue
The nuclear waste issue became already in the 1970’s a political question in both countries. In
Sweden a special Government Committee on Radioactive Waste was set up. The committee, with
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