Collaborative partner selected for Swedish repository

Monday, 23 June 2025

The project includes the planning, design and construction phases of an access tunnel to the first storage level, three vertical shafts for ventilation and an elevator, a central area as well as the main and transport tunnels - all at depths of up to 500 metres. The planning phase will begin later this year and will be followed by the design and construction phases. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2033.

Implenia will establish outbuildings, workshops and other necessary infrastructure in Forsmark prior to rock excavation work beginning.

"The construction of the Spent Fuel Repository is an important step in our mission to dispose of the radioactive waste safely," said SKB CEO Stefan Engdahl. "We are happy to have signed a collaboration agreement with Implenia, as they possess solid expertise and experience in rock excavation and infrastructure projects."

Jiri Englén, CEO of Implenia Sweden, added: "We're very proud to have been awarded this contract. Being selected for the planning, design and construction of this facility together with SKB offers strong proof that our strategy is a timely one. We look forward to a successful collaboration with SKB, one in which we can contribute our ability to collaborate, our working methods and our technical expertise."

_{The agreement covers an access tunnel, three vertical shafts for ventilation and a lift, a central area and main tunnels and transport tunnels to the first repository areas (Image: SKB)}

SKB applied in 2011 to the Land and Environmental Court in Nacka district court for permission to dispose of used nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. The court then prepared the application, held a longer main hearing in 2017 and submitted its opinion to the government in 2018. The government decided on 27 January 2022 that the activity was permissible according to Sweden's Environmental Code. 

In October last year, the Land and Environmental Court granted SKB permission and determined the conditions that will apply to the business. An enforcement order also issued by the court means SKB could start initial work even if the judgment is appealed against at the Svea Court of Appeal. Groundwork began for the construction of the final repository in January.

The construction of the repository will take ten years before deposition can begin, after which the repository will be gradually expanded over a long period of time. Two years of surface work is currently under way, including the construction of rock storage and water treatment facilities, a canister bridge over the cooling water canal and forest clearance. After that, rock work will begin down into the bedrock.

In order for SKB to be able to start the tunnelling itself, an approved safety report from the Radiation Safety Authority is required.

A similar geological repository for used fuel is being built at Olkiluoto in Finland. The Finnish government granted a construction licence for that project in November 2015 and construction work on the repository started a year later. Posiva has applied for an operating licence for the facility to the end of 2070.