This ‘underground tomb’ will store nuclear waste for 100,000 years
This tomb will be located deep beneath a rural area in the west of the country. The permanent nuclear disposal site is called Onkalo, which in Finnish means “deep hole”. If nothing goes wrong within the next few years, the site will become a place to store spent uranium fuel rods encased in copper barrels for the next 100,000 years.
This grave will be a permanent burial ground for nuclear waste.
There are more than 400 nuclear power plants located around the world. Despite such a high number, the world currently does not have a permanent nuclear disposal site. Instead, nuclear waste has been stored in various types of tanks or turned into glass by vitrification. Japan even has plans to dump nuclear waste into the ocean.
While these storage options work well enough for a short time, having a permanent place to store this hazardous waste has become a priority for the country over the past few decades.
And because of Finland’s vast countryside and vast coastline, the country has the perfect place to house both a reactor and the world’s first permanent nuclear storage: a small island. with just enough people nearby for things to work. It was Olkiluoto, off the coast of the village of Eurajoki.
Thanks to its special natural geography, with a vast countryside and a long coastline, Finland has the perfect place to house both the reactor and the world’s first permanent nuclear storage. All three nuclear power plants, capable of providing nearly 40% of the country’s electricity, are located on the island of Olkiluoto, located off the west coast.
But the country doesn’t stop at just generating energy here. Thanks to the bedrock bed quite deep below the island, this is where Finland plans to bury its nuclear waste, nearly 500 meters below the surface in a permanent nuclear disposal site.
The central cylinder is an elevator that can be used in emergency situations.
Water is the enemy of nuclear waste. So they built this site in a dense, watertight rock. This is also another reason why it is buried so deeply. It is also strategically located due to its distance from two nearby terrain fault lines, which will help avoid any earthquake problems.
But Finland’s permanent nuclear site doesn’t just rely on watertight rock to keep waste safe. First, they will store the nuclear waste in a cast iron container. They would then fill the flask with an inert gas argon. Finally, it will be completely wrapped in a copper barrel. The bin is then hermetically sealed, locking the nuclear waste inside.
Of course, there are still some concerns about corrosion, which is caused by dissolved oxygen in the water. But the experts at Posiva Solutions, a company involved in the permanent nuclear facility at Olkiluoto, have a solution. They say any water that gets into the bucket will be consumed by bacteria and other agents that act on the water. This will prevent any corrosion it may cause.
Finland is not the first country to try to create permanent nuclear sites. However, this will most likely be the first place to succeed. The US and France have both attempted to create sites similar to those at Olkiluoto. However, these projects often run into problems due to a lack of community acceptance.
However, with Finland, the people living on the island are already very comfortable with nuclear power. Many of them even worked in nearby nuclear power plants. Therefore, they have a relaxed mindset and good knowledge of how nuclear power works. They accept it and are willing to accept the existence of a permanent nuclear site near them.
Posivia is planning a final test run of the site in 2023. The company hopes to start filling up with nuclear waste by 2024 or 2025. It hopes the site will be a storage facility. safety and security for nuclear waste for at least the next 100,000 years.
Refer Gizmodo
at Blogtuan.info – Source: genk.vn – Read the original article here
