nuclear-news

Row in Finland over insufficient storage space for nuclear wastes

Dispute over disposal of nuclear waste brewing between power companies,

 Pyhäjoki waste would not all fit in Olkiluoto, HELSINGIN SANOMAT, 7 Oct 11,  Disagreement over the final storage of nuclear waste flared up soon after the power company Fennovoima announced on Wednesday that it had decided to build a new nuclear facility in Pyhäjoki on Finland’s west coast.

Fennovoima also indicated that it assumes that it will be able to store the radioactive waste from the plant at the facility being built in Olkiluoto by Posiva, a company set up for the purpose by Fortum and TVO, the two companies that currently operate nuclear power plants in Finland.
Posiva was quick to reject the idea.

“There simply is not enough capacity or space in Olkiluoto. We are currently using all of the space made available by zoning. This fact should gradually sink in at Fennovoima as well”, says Posiva CEO Reijo Sundell.
“Long-term safety is our guide. We cannot drill the rock full of holes – the laws of physics and chemistry will come against us.”
Sundell says that the storage area cannot be made any deeper, because salt water would start to seep in. Space also has to be left outside the capsules of nuclear waste in case of possible ice ages.

Nuclear energy companies have clashed over final storage of waste ever since Fennovoima was set up in 2007 to compete for a licence for the construction of a new nuclear power plant.
Fennovoima has been hoping all along that it would be able to cooperate with Posiva. However, Posiva’s owners, Fortum and TVO, have emphasised that the storage facility can only accommodate their waste….http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Dispute+over+disposal+of+nuclear+waste+brewing+between+power+companies/1135269639490

October 8, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Finland, wastes