The present Swedish nuclear fuel and waste position in perspective

In Sweden current efforts are focussed on research and development of the management of all types of radioactive residues and on industrial projects for the implementation of a complete programme for the back-end of the fuel cycle, where, in fact, international commercial services scarcely exist. Another reason for this priority is the need to allay public anxiety on the subject. The paper describes the policy, planning, and development of the Swedish nuclear back-end as well as its organization and financing. In Sweden the licensee of a nuclear power facility assumes direct responsibility, technically and financially, for the nuclear waste he generates. To cover future costs with respect to the back-end, the utilities pay to the State a fee related to their production of nuclear electricity. The fee is kept in a fund administered by the State through an authority, the 'National Board for Spent Nuclear Fuel'. The technical implementation programme comprises a sea transportation system to be operational by the end of 1982 and a central facility for intermediate storage of spent reactor fuel to be operational by 1985. The third step in the Swedish waste programme is a central final storage facility for reactor wastes other than spent fuel (planned to be in operation by 1988). Broad research and development work is going on in a deep underground system for the isolation of highly active and long-lived wastes. A rock drilling programme is being carried out at several places and is planned to continue for a period of approximately ten years. Encapsulation of waste and the properties of buffer materials are being studied. The paper stresses the importance of achieving generally and multi-nationally accepted guidelines for waste isolation systems and also of proper demonstration of the performance of the various parts of such systems