World
Finland nearing opening of world’s first permanent nuclear waste repository
Facilities are being built in many countries, but Finland is the first to licence its underground storage facility.
Al Jazeera•
Finland has granted an operating licence for the world’s first permanent underground repository for spent nuclear fuel.
The government handed Onkalo, in western Finland, the licence on Thursday, waste management company Posiva said.
Although the move does not allow the opening of the facility, it is expected to start operations soon, the firm said. However, 22 years after construction began, no exact date has been decided yet.
With space for 6,500 tonnes of uranium, Onkalo, which means “cave” in Finnish, will provide permanent storage for spent fuel from Finland’s five nuclear reactors.