Since no one came up with a better idea, the nation will — starting in 2020 — store 5,500 tons of waste in The Hollow. Spent nuclear rods will be encased in iron, sealed in copper canisters, packed with bentonite (a type of clay) and lowered into the tomb. The tomb itself will be insulated with clay blocks and bentonite to prevent water from seeping in. The nuclear waste management company heading the project — Posiva — claims the method is safe, citing its use in a similar Swedish project, now underway.
How is Finland planning to dispose of its nuclear waste?
Answer: by burying it underground for 100,000 years
A network of tunnels 1,300 feet underground called Onkalo (Finnish for “The Hollow”) are to be a tomb for Finland’s radioactive nuclear waste. The country’s first nuclear plants were built in the 1950s, and what to do with the unwanted byproducts has been a matter of debate ever since.
Since no one came up with a better idea, the nation will — starting in 2020 — store 5,500 tons of waste in The Hollow. Spent nuclear rods will be encased in iron, sealed in copper canisters, packed with bentonite (a type of clay) and lowered into the tomb. The tomb itself will be insulated with clay blocks and bentonite to prevent water from seeping in. The nuclear waste management company heading the project — Posiva — claims the method is safe, citing its use in a similar Swedish project, now underway.
Since no one came up with a better idea, the nation will — starting in 2020 — store 5,500 tons of waste in The Hollow. Spent nuclear rods will be encased in iron, sealed in copper canisters, packed with bentonite (a type of clay) and lowered into the tomb. The tomb itself will be insulated with clay blocks and bentonite to prevent water from seeping in. The nuclear waste management company heading the project — Posiva — claims the method is safe, citing its use in a similar Swedish project, now underway.
