The experience of interim storage of spent nuclear fuel and disposal of radioactive waste in Sweden

The foundation of the policy and distribution of the responsibilities for the radioactive waste management and its final solution was done already in the 1970's. The 'Stipulation Law' (1976) states that the producer must take full responsibility of the waste generated during the power production. SKB (earlier SKBF) was established 1972 by the Swedish nuclear utilities with the mission to manage the back-end cycle for radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. During the 1980's the 'Finance Act' was established with the objective to allocate funds for the management of the complete back-end cycle for radioactive waste and spent fuel. Looking back from the situation today with the nuclear waste management programme, a lot have changed since nuclear power was introduced in Sweden. - Reprocessing is no longer part of the strategy and only a minor amount of fuel from the first reactor will ever be reprocessed. Instead a central storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, CLAB, has been built and been in operation since 1985. Today about 4000 tonnes are stored there. - A system for transportation of spent nuclear fuel and low- and intermediate level waste from the reactors is in operation since 1985. - A final underground repository for low- and intermediate level waste, SFR, is in operation since 1988. Thus a long-term solution has been established for this type of wastes. - The work on research, development and demonstration for deep geological disposal of spent fuel has been intensive for more than 20 years. It has now reached such maturity that key decisions concerning design and siting of an encapsulation plant and a final repository are possible to be taken within the next 5-10 years. The contents of the paper is as follows: Facilities in operation; Final repository for low and intermediate level operational waste, SFR; Experience of operation; Transport; The interim storage of spent nuclear fuel, CLAB; Future plans; Encapsulation of spent fuel; Disposal of spent fuel; Handling of spent core components; Disposal of spent core components; Time schedule for future activities