Court grants licence for extended interim storage in Clab

The Land and Environment Court has today granted SKB an environmental licence to increase the quantity of spent nuclear fuel in the Clab interim storage facility from 8,000 tonnes to 11,000 tonnes. Meanwhile, the licensing process under the Swedish Nuclear Activities Act continues.

SKB:s vd Johan Dasht. Foto: Mikael Wallerstedt.

— The environmental licence is a crucial step along the way for us to be able to receive more spent nuclear fuel in Clab. Now the parallel licensing process under the Nuclear Activities Act continues, for which the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority is responsible, says Johan Dasht, CEO of SKB.

The environmental licence may be utilised even if an appeal is lodged in higher courts. The limit under the current licence of 8,000 tonnes will be reached in December 2023. But to be able to go above this figure, SKB is required to submit updated safety analysis reports for approval by the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority. These must include reinforcements that further increase radiation safety at the plant.

— Both the Government and the court have now decided to grant SKB a licence for increased interim storage. These are important milestones, but considerable work remains to be done before we can guarantee continued interim storage, says Johan Dasht.

The fact that the licence for interim storage in Clab is being reviewed separately is a consequence of the Government´s decision to detach this issue from SKB’s overall final repository application last summer. Since then, SKB has undertaken extensive work to make the continued licensing process possible.