Final Repository for Short-Lived Radioactive Waste to is being extended

SKB plans to extend the existing Final Repository for Short-Lived Radioactive Waste (SFR) to create space for low-level and intermediate-level decommissioning waste from the Swedish nuclear power plants.

Many of the Swedish nuclear power reactors have now been shut down and are to be dismantled and demolished. The decommissioning waste that contains radioactivity will be finally disposed of in the SFR. This includes reactor components, metal, concrete and other building materials.

But the SFR needs to be extended in order to accommodate this. At present, the facility has space for about 63,000 cubic metres of short-lived low-level and intermediate-level operational waste, and it is 60% full. Additional space is needed for 117,000 cubic metres.

Rock excavation well under way

Extending the SFR will take around six years in total, as excavation works have to be completed and installations of ventilation, lighting and handling equipment, for example, have to be in place. SKB fired the first blasting salvo in January 2025 and rock excavation work is now well under way. Extending the SFR is a project that is both unique and complex, as it involves the extension of an existing nuclear facility, in which the different elements will have to be adapted to each other.

The plan is that the repository, when extended, will have six new rock vaults, 240 to 275 metres long, and be about three times as big as it is now. The extended part, just like the current SFR, will be located in the bedrock beneath the sea bed, near Forsmark. The intention is to construct the extension at a depth of 120 to 140 metres, level with the lowest section of the current SFR.

The project is being run in the form of a turnkey contract in collaboration with Skanska, a working method based on collaboration and transparency, in which SKB and the contractor form a joint organisation. The focus is therefore on collaboration – SKB knows radiation safety and Skanska has the construction expertise.

The image is a photo montage of the Final Repository for Short-Lived Radioactive Waste in Forsmark. The grey section on the right is the existing facility in the rock under the sea, the blue section shows the planned extension.

The image is a photo montage of the Final Repository for Short-Lived Radioactive Waste in Forsmark. The grey section on the right is the existing facility in the rock under the sea, the blue section shows the planned extension.

All licences in place for the extension

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority and the Land and Environmental Court recommended approval of the application in 2019, when the main hearing was also held.

In April 2021, Östhammar Municipal Council approved SKB’s applications, and in December 2021 the Swedish Government granted a licence under the Swedish Nuclear Activities Act and permissibility under the Swedish Environmental Code.

Negotiations on conditions under the Swedish Environmental Code were held in November 2022, and about one month later the Land and Environmental Court issued a ruling and SKB received an environmental permit for the extension. The ruling regulates, among other things, noise, transportation and other impacts on the environment. The Court also decided on the execution of the initial works, which meant that SKB was able to start work above ground relatively quickly after the ruling.

In March 2023, SKB submitted an application to the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) for the construction and operation of the extended SFR. The application included a preliminary safety analysis report, system descriptions and a decommissioning plan, and was an important step in the phased review in accordance with the Swedish Nuclear Activities Act (KTL). The application was approved in November 2024, and excavation works began a short time later at Stora Asphällan in Forsmark.