Work has begun on the Multifunctional Storage Building (MOG) - a new storage building for low and intermediate-level waste - in Nieuwdorp, in the municipality of Borssele, in the Netherlands, the Central Organisation for Radioactive Waste (Covra) announced.

The pilings in place for the new MOG facility (Image: Covra)

The order to begin construction of the MOG was given and the first bored pile was driven into the ground on 22 September, Covra said. All 438 bored piles for the MOG have now all been installed.

Covra applied to the Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ANVS) in August 2022 for a permit change under the Nuclear Energy Act to construct the MOG facility. Among the documents submitted by Covra along with the permit application were an environmental impact assessment (EIA) and a supplement to its safety report. ANVS granted the final permit to Covra in June this year. Covra subsequently applied for and obtained a building permit from the municipality of Borssele.

Completion of the new storage building - plans for which were announced by Covra in March 2021 - is expected in 2025.

The new storage building is mainly intended for the storage of historical radioactive waste that is currently stored on the site of medical isotope producer NRG in Petten. Future decommissioning waste from nuclear installations in the Netherlands will also be placed in the MOG. The current processing and storage at Covra is not yet suitable for this, Covra said. The new building - designed for the storage of drums of radioactive waste in special stackable storage containers - will provide sufficient storage capacity until 2050.

The 2400-square-metre MOG will have a repacking area where drums with radioactive waste will be packed from the transport container into the storage container. These stackable storage containers will also be used for final storage. Covra said the building will also be made suitable for waste that it currently receives and which could possibly be processed and packaged in a different way in the future with a view to disposal.

MOG - designed for a lifespan of at least 100 years - will be able to accommodate 4000 cubic metres of radioactive waste. The building has been designed in such a way that the storage capacity can easily be expanded later.