Advanced research at three laboratories

SKB is a global leader in research on the final disposal of radioactive waste. A significant portion of this pioneering work is conducted at our three specialized laboratories located in Oskarshamn.

In 1995 the work of constructing the underground laboratory at Äspö north of Oskarshamn was completed. This is a 3.5-kilometre tunnel that descends to a depth of about 500 metres and is where we carried out much of the research on which the KBS-3 method is based – the method that will be used in the Spent Fuel Repository. It is also where the technology that will be used in the Spent Fuel Repository was tested and developed, in full scale and in a genuine underground environment.

It didn’t take long for SKB to recognize the need for a dedicated facility to develop the welding techniques required to seal copper canisters ahead of final disposal. In 1998, the Canister Laboratory was inaugurated at a site in the harbor area of Oskarshamn.

The facility is equipped with unique friction welding technology, specially adapted to meet SKB’s specific requirements

Since 2007, SKB has operated a dedicated facility at Äspö known as the Multipurpose Test Facility. This site is used to develop and test the equipment needed for handling and installing buffer materials in the Spent Fuel Repository.

You can read more about our laboratories using the menu on the right.