Swedish community votes ‘yes’ for a Geological Disposal Facility

On 13th October, the Municipality Council of Östhammar in Sweden voted in favour of a formal acceptance of the final underground repository for spent nuclear fuel.

The community has shown strong support for the facility throughout the development process. Earlier this year, 82% of the community respondents to the annual poll in Östhammar Municipality stated that they were in favour of SKB’s plans to build the final repository in Forsmark.

The final decision is now with the Swedish Government and is the last remaining decision point for SKB to obtain the construction licence for their repository.

Johan Dasht, SKB’s CEO, said:

It is very gratifying indeed that Östhammar Municipality has made this historic decision. This is absolutely crucial for making it possible for Sweden to take the final responsibility for the radioactive waste produced by our generation.

It is internationally recognised that a permanent deep disposal facility is the safest and most secure way to manage higher-activity waste for the long term. Countries around the world are planning to dispose of their higher-activity waste in this way. As well as Sweden, Canada, Finland, France, and Switzerland are well ahead of the UK in their implementation.

In the UK, RWM plan to work in partnership with a number of communities from across the country to explore how having a GDF in their area can provide long-term economic and employment benefits and play a major part in their development plans.

The search for a host community is a nationwide process, based on consent, and includes detailed investigations to make sure there is a suitable site at which to construct a safe and secure GDF.

Find out more about the UK’s plans.