In an unprecedented step in nuclear waste management, the company Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) has entered into a partnership with Rauma Biovoima to transform maintenance materials from the Olkilu from the Olkiluoto power plants into usable energy. The move marks a significant change in the treatment of this type of waste in Finland.
What exactly are they doing?
At nuclear power plants, in addition to spent nuclear fuel, other wastes are generated during maintenance, such as coveralls , gloves or protective plastics, which are used in controlled areas. These wastes are monitored and determined to be “exempt from supervision” or “exempt from control”, which means that their radioactivity levels are so low that they are legally no longer considered radioactive waste and can be treated as normal waste.
Before, these same wastes, even if they were not radioactive, were simply packed and sent to a landfill, which had an economic cost and an environmental cost. Now, instead of burying it, it will be sorted and sent to the Rauma Biovoima plant, where it will be burned along with other recycled fuels. recycled fuels.
What is the impact of this news for Finland?
This is the first time in Finland that this has been done with waste from a nuclear power plant. Reusing this waste is cheaper than the previous landfill disposal process and is a way of saving natural resources.
The process has been reviewed and approved by the Finnish nuclear safety authority (STUK) and the first pilot batch is scheduled for transport in November, with a volume of approximately ten cubic meters. According to TVO estimates, between 30 and 80 cubic meters of waste could be treated annually using this new method.
Source: Teollisuuden Voima
