Posiva Oy will continue the project concerning the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel in Olkiluoto, Eurajoki, and STUK will continue to supervise it. During the last third of 2021, there were no big surprises in the supervision.
The triannual report of STUK's supervision from the beginning of September to the end of last year shows that the main focus of supervision was on the review of the structural design of the spent nuclear fuel lifting and transfer equipment.
During the final third of 2021, STUK also carried out four inspections under the construction inspection programme. These concerned the security arrangements, manufacturing of engineered barrier systems and supervision of the manufacturing process, commissionning, management and safety culture.
Project Manager Päivi Mäenalanen from STUK says that on the basis of supervision and inspections, Posiva's procedures are mostly in order.
At least two years of safety assessment of the operating licence application
In 2022, Posiva will continue to build the final disposal facility and STUK will continue to supervise the project. This year, STUK will also begin processing the operating licence application concerning the encapsulation plant and final disposal facility. Posiva submitted the application to the Government on 30 December. In that context, Posiva provided STUK with the material on the basis of which STUK will prepare a safety assessment in support of the Government's decision.
The material is extensive and STUK will first check its coverage, i.e. whether it includes everything necessary for preparing the safety assessment. STUK estimates that the processing of the entire material will take at least two years. According to Project Manager Päivi Mäenalanen, the duration of the assessment depends primarily on the quality of the material received from Posiva.
Link to the triannual report (in Finnish)
Further information:
Project Manager Päivi Mäenalanen, tel. +358 9 7598 8377
Media contacts, tel. +358 10 850 4761
