Together with his colleagues, Jinshan Pan, a professor of corrosion sciences at CTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, published test In January 2023, dedicated to the risk of sulfides in ground water, copper corrosion used for issued nuclear fuel containers. “More work is needed to define […] Nature and chemistry of surface films that develop on copper surfaces in the conditions of the repository, “says the article.
While Pzyva Oy looks like he may have the first functioning repository, other countries follow their leader. Neighboring Sweden is also preparing to start working on its own repository, which is to contain up to 12,000 tons of Swedish used nuclear fuel. It is expected that after its completion, it extends to over 60 kilometers of tunnel at a depth of 500 meters. This is a earnest work that has been energetic on the drawing table for 40 years and obtained the necessary environmental permits for construction just a few months ago. Construction may begin in the next decade and will last until the 1880s, and the underground space of this repository gradually stretches – it caused the dismissal of the Office for Nuclear Waste Review, the Swedish NGOs, does not ponderous down or stop work. Fears of the Swedish project are the same as in the case of Finnish: the danger of corrosion of copper canisters, probably causing the release of radioactive elements to groundwater.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Canada also plans to build a warehouse. The repository does not exist yet, but the path forward seems relatively free of obstacles – at least there are no noticeable legal. After 14 years of dialogue and debates, the relevant organs and citizens chose the host’s website in the town of Ignace, Ontario, part of the native community of Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation. Both the city and nation were open to the project, considering it as a source of investment and novel jobs.
France and Switzerland are also working on projects, they gradually achieve progress, even if a significant of them is a matter of going through bureaucratic obstacles. In the Meuse region in northern France, work in the field on Cigeo project It may start in 2027. Now, when he received a positive assessment of its reliability. The Andra implementation company was authorized to continue plans, provided that a larger one considers the potential impact of climate change on ground structures.
He took the Swiss National Radioactive Cooperative Waste, Nagra, 14 years, to decide where to locate your warehouse. He decided to build his repository north of Zurich in Nördlich Lägern, because it is a particularly wealthy area in very compact opalin clay, which is ideal for action as a long -term container for radioactive materials. (Finland’s website is also wealthy in this material.) The final approval is expected around 2030, subject to the referendum, and the repository should start operating until 2060.
Finally, Italy is considering 51 places that can potentially be suitable for hosting the repository for storing nuclear waste. These plans were first developed in 2015, and then published in December 2023. The government decided to re -open the process of submitting applications to adapt novel applications. In the meantime, radioactive waste in this country remain stored in momentary repositories in places withdrawn from the operation of nuclear power plants, nuclear research facilities and the location of nuclear medicine and industry.
This story originally appeared Wired Italia And it was translated from Italian.