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MOSCOW - The Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) said that it had issued an operating permit for the world's first spent nuclear waste repository, reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti.
The Onkalo repository was built next to the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant, approximately 240 kilometres from Helsinki.
It is the world's first geological disposal project for nuclear waste, with a lifespan of approximately 100,000 years.
"On August 4, 2026, the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority issued a statement to the Economic Affairs and Employment Ministry on Posiva Oy’s application for a licence to operate a spent nuclear fuel encapsulation and final disposal facility.
"According to STUK, the safety requirements required for granting the operating licence are met. This is the first time in the world that the geological final disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel has progressed to the operating licence phase,” the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement clarified that the repository still must receive an operating permit from the Economic Affairs and Employment Ministry.
According to the statement, the spent nuclear fuel will be stored in final disposal canisters made of iron and copper.
"The canisters will then be lowered into ‘a final disposal facility built in the bedrock at a depth of 400-450 metres’,” the statement added.
Posiva, the company running the project, applied for a licence to operate the facility until the end of 2070. - BERNAMA