World’s first permanent nuclear fuel waste repository to open in Finland

Later this year, Finland will open the world’s first permanent repository for nuclear fuel waste. Located on Olkiluoto, an island in the Baltic Sea 3 hours north of Helsinki, the facility is designed to store nuclear waste 450 meters underground for 100,000 years, with each storage facility able to hold 30 to 40 copper and cast iron casks containing spent fuel rods. The total storage capacity will be 3,250 canisters or 6,500 metric tons, but the facility is designed to have no external sign of it.