A rendering of the underground used fuel repository at Olkiluoto (Image: Posiva)
Radioactive waste management company Posiva submitted its application, together with related information, to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment on 30 December 2021 for an operating licence for the used fuel encapsulation plant and final disposal facility currently under construction at Olkiluoto. The repository is expected to begin operations in the mid-2020s. Posiva is applying for an operating licence for a period from March 2024 to the end of 2070.
The government will make the final decision on Posiva's application, but a positive opinion by the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) is required beforehand. The regulator began its review in May 2022 after concluding Posiva had provided sufficient material. The ministry had requested STUK's opinion on the application by the end of 2023. However, in January this year, STUK requested the deadline for its opinion be extended until the end of 2024.
STUK has now said Posiva "has not completed the materials necessary" for it to conduct a safety assessment concerning the plant’s operating licence. At STUK's request, the ministry has agreed to extend the deadline for the regulator's opinion to 31 December 2025.
"Overall, STUK has progressed well in processing the operating licence application," STUK said. "Due to the scope of the materials and the updates STUK required of Posiva, however, the processing has taken longer than anticipated. STUK has received new materials from Posiva this autumn.
"In addition, Posiva has made changes to the technical plans for final disposal during the processing. Consequently, Posiva had to remake the materials concerning the changes. Processing updated and remade materials takes time and affects the timeline of the assessment."
STUK Project Manager Antti Tynkkynen said: "We are therefore unable to promise an exact timetable. Once Posiva has demonstrated that the operation of the facilities and the safety of the final disposal meet the requirements, the safety assessment will be completed promptly. If Posiva material updates do not cause any further clarification, it is possible that the work will be completed by the end of the summer."
The government granted Posiva a construction licence for the project in November 2015 and construction work on the repository started in December 2016. Once it receives the operating licence, Posiva can start the final disposal of the used fuel generated from the operation of TVO's Olkiluoto and Fortum's Loviisa nuclear power plants. The operation will last for about 100 years before the repository is closed. Posiva announced in late August the start of a trial run - expected to take several months - of the operation of the final disposal facility, albeit still without the used fuel.
