Sweden has begun constructing a repository to bury radioactive waste 500 metres underground.

When complete, the storage facility will hold 12,000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel.

With all the permits in place and the conditions for the construction of the facility established, the final repository should be ready for waste disposal in the 2030s.

Thousands of tons of radioactive waste will be encapsulated in around 6,000 copper canisters and disposed of in tunnels extending more than 60km underground in 1.9-billion-year-old solid bedrock.

A layer of bentonite will be packed around the canisters, to act as a buffer and protect against minor movements in the rock.

In January 2022, the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB), which is owned by the Swedish nuclear power plants, was granted permission by the government to build the final repository. The repository will be located next to the Forsmark nuclear power plant in Östhammar municipality.

Towards the end of 2024, SKB received...