Implenia is to build the first underground section of a deep repository for radioactive waste in Sweden.
The company has signed an Early Contractor Involvement contract with Swedish company Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (SKB) to build the facility near the Forsmark nuclear power plant in eastern Sweden.
The project includes the planning, design and construction of an access tunnel to the first storage level, three vertical shafts for ventilation and an elevator, a central area, as well as main and transport tunnels – all at depths of up to 500m.
The planning phase will begin in autumn this year and will be followed by the design and construction phases. The project will be finished by 2033.
“We are very proud to have been awarded this important contract and would like to thank SKB for the trust they have placed in us. The project requires a great deal of geological and technical tunnelling expertise and precision,” said Erwin Scherer, head division civil engineering at Implenia.
SKB Stefan Engdahl CEO said building the deep repository was an important step in the company’s mission to safely dispose of radioactive waste.
“We are pleased to have signed a collaboration agreement with Implenia as Implenia possesses solid expertise and experience in rock excavation and infrastructure projects,” he said.
SKB plans to expand the deep repository into an underground system covering up to 4km2 and around 66km of tunnels by the 2080s. It will then offer space for storing up to 12,000 tonnes of radioactive material in rock that is 1.9 billion years old.
