Let me know what time frame would be practical for preparing such advice and we can discuss the delivery date for your memo. Thank you.

Transcription

1 From: McGee, Kelly Sent: April 25, :00 PM To: Howard, Don; Klassen, Kathleen Cc: Myles,Debra [CEAA]; Francis, Kiza Subject: Information on three foreign waste sites As promised, I am forwarding the brief memo that was prepared for the Panel members regarding the permanent geologic waste sites in Finland, Sweden and Germany. In regard to the Nation Reports prepared by these three countries for the upcoming Joint Convention meeting, I am currently extracting the portions of the reports dealing with low and intermediate level waste. As the Panel is currently trying to determine the relative value of a visit to one or more of these sites, it would be extremely helpful if the CNSC experts could prepare a fairly brief overview of the advantages or disadvantages and relevance of the facilities in these three countries in relation to OPG's proposed DGR project in order to assist the Panel with their determination as to whether or not a site visit to any of the three countries is warranted. In the event that there may be follow-up questions regarding your advice, I will advise you accordingly. We believe it will be helpful for the Panel to have not only the Nation Report information but also recommendations regarding the relevance of these facilities to the DGR project. Let me know what time frame would be practical for preparing such advice and we can discuss the delivery date for your memo. Thank you. Kelly

2 DGR Joint Review Panel MEMORANDUM To: Stella Swanson, James Archibald, Gunter Muecke From: Kelly McGee Date: March 15, 2012 Re: Information on International Waste Management Facilities Further to the Panel s meetings on February 20-22, 2012, set out below is additional information regarding sites for the long-term disposal of low and intermediate level radioactive waste. I acknowledge that the Panel expressed interest in only visiting the facilities in Sweden and Germany. Information on the facilities in Finland is also included as CNSC staff had advised that Finland was one of the three facility locations likely to be of the greatest relevance to the Panel in the course of your work. Candidates for Site Visits COUNTRY FACILITY NAME / REGION WASTE GEOLOGY DESIGN & DEPTH Finland VLJ / Olkiluoto L & ILW* Intrusive igneous, tonalite Vertical silos m Finland Loviisa L & ILW Granite Horizontal drifts 120 m Germany Morsleben / Saxony-Anhalt Germany Schacht Konrad / Lower Saxony Sweden SFR / Forsmark 63,000 m 3 L & ILW *Low and intermediate level radioactive waste STATUS In operation 1992 In operation 1998 L & ILW 40,000 m 3 Salt dome 630 m In operation L & ILW Sedimentary 303,000 m 3 rock granite 800+m Under construction In service date 2013 Rock vaults (4) & Concrete silo (one) 50 m In operation

3 Sweden Final Repository for Radioactive Waste (SFR) Location SFR is situated in the municipality of Östhammar, on the east coast of Sweden, in the region of Uppland. Östhammar has a permanent population of 22,000 which number increases significantly in the summer due to its location in the archipelago of the Baltic Sea. The municipality is 12 kilometers from Stockholm. Operation Total disposal capacity is 63,000 m³ with a further 30,000 cubic meters planned at a later date. The first containers of waste were put in SFR-1 April 27, Design SFR consists of two 1,000 m long tunnels leading from the above-ground storage buildings to four rock vault chambers for low level waste and a cylindrical cavity with a concrete silo for intermediate level waste. Total disposal capacity is 63,000 m³ with a further 30,000 cubic meters planned at a later date. The storage area is built in bedrock, 50 meters below the sea floor of the Baltic Sea. It was not designed to constitute a barrier. It is filled with fractures and geological faults. The environment is expected to change relatively rapidly over the next few thousand years as the land rises and the Baltic coastline recedes. While presently under the Baltic Sea, it is not expected to be the case for the life of the facility. Regulatory Authority Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) reports to the Ministry of the Environment. Illustration - SFR Germany Konrad Repository Location The Konrad repository is located in the city of Salzgitter in the Metropolitan region of Hannover-Braunschweig-Gottingen-Wolfsburg in southeast Lower Saxony. Salzgitter has 2

4 109,142 residents (1994 numbers). Braunschweig is 23 kilometers to the northeast (population 247,400) and Hanover is 51km to the northwest (population 522,686). Operation The Konrad repository is being built in a former iron ore mine. The mining of iron ore ceased in Conversion of the mine is underway and operation for storage of low and intermediate level radioactive waste is scheduled for The license approves the storage of up to 303,000 m³. Concerns raised during the 2006 licensing hearing included long-term safety, accidents, transport of radioactive waste, radioactive exposure to the population in the area, possible terrorist attacks and the lack of a comparative assessment with other locations. After the initial phase of final storage to clear the backlog of 88,000 m³ waste in other locations the expected traffic is 10 road freight vehicles and one train of 20 freight wagons per week Design It has two shafts, of which Schacht Konrad I, is approximately 1232 meters and Schacht Konrad II is around 999 meters deep. The storage chambers are created with a diameter of about 40 m² with a bottom width of about 7 meters and a height of about 6 meters. Its length should be - depending on the geological and mining technical conditions to 1000 meters. After the storage of the radioactive containers, the sectional shafts will be closed with concrete for the permanent storage of the nuclear waste. Regulatory Authority Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), under the Atomic Energy Act. Illustration Shaft 1 Shaft 2 3

5 Finland Olkiluoto and Loviisa Repositories Location The Olkiluoto and Loviisa geologic repositories for low and intermediate level wastes are located on the respective two-unit operating reactor sites. The Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant is in the municipality of Eurajoki on Olkiluoto Island, which is on the shore of the Gulf of Bothnia in western Finland. Eurajoki has a population of 5,851. The Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant is located in the municipality of Loviisa on the southern coast of Finland, approximately 87 kilometers east of Helsinki. The population of Loviisa is 15,556. Operation The Olkiluoto repository was commissioned in 1992, and the Loviisa repository was commissioned in The Olkiluoto repository is designed to receive 40 years of waste amounting to 40, litre drums. The silo for low-level waste has a capacity of 5,000m³ and the silo for intermediate-level waste has a capacity of 3,500m³. Information was not available on the design capacity of Loviisa. Design The Olkiluoto site consists mainly of micaceous gneiss intercalated with sparsely fractured tonalite. At Olkiluoto, the shape of the tonalitic body bounded by fracture zones led to a vertical silo-type concept m below the surface. The Loviisa site consists entirely of Rapakivi granite, which is coarse grained and porphyritic. At Loviisa, the subhorizontal fracture zones above the planned disposal depth favored horizontal drifts 120 m below the surface. Regulatory Authority Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) - reports to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, under the Nuclear Energy Act and Decree.. Illustration - Olkiluoto Repository 4

6 Illustration Loviisa Repository 5