Finland Begins Final Burial of Nuclear Waste at Onkalo Facility
· World · Hindustan Times, The Economist
Finland has commenced final operations at Onkalo, the world's first geological disposal facility designed to store 6,500 tonnes of hazardous nuclear waste. Located 400 metres deep within 1.9 billion-year-old bedrock, the facility is engineered to contain radiation for over 100,000 years. The project, managed by the firm Posiva, cost approximately $6 billion and is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2026. While European countries are currently planning 14 separate disposal sites, experts suggest that shared facilities would be more efficient if political barriers were removed. Finnish law currently restricts the facility from accepting nuclear waste from outside the country.
Why it matters
The project establishes a global precedent for long-term nuclear waste management, offering a potential blueprint for other nations as global nuclear power output is projected to double by 2050.
Read the original report — Hindustan Times
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