Radioactive waste


Researchers from Micans peforming samplings of the buffer surrounding a copper canister in one of the Prototype repository's deposition holes 450 m below ground in Äspö hard rock laboratory. Photo: Micans.

The radioactive waste from nuclear reactors has to be taken care of in both short and long term in order to protect people and the environment.

Every country that uses electricity made from nuclear power has a responsibility towards future generations in the disposal of nuclear waste. Safe long term solutions that do not require monitoring are necessary, and those solutions also have to be adjusted in consideration to each country’s geological condition.

Since the late 80’s, some of the co-workers here on Micans have been doing research regarding the affects that microorganisms can have on different storage solutions concerning radioactive waste. We have done our research using the Swedish and Finnish model, which entails the spent nuclear fuel being placed inside copper canisters, and then surrounded by Bentonite clay about 500 m (1640 feet) into the Scandinavian bedrock. We have also worked with the model used in Belgium, where the canisters are placed in a thick layer of clay about 220 m (720 feet) down.

Our research regarding the repository has sparked an interest in other countries working with radioactive waste. That interest has resulted in a new EU-project, the so called MIND-project, which you can read more about here. Karsten Pedersen has been appointed head of the sub-project regarding microbes in the repository environment.