Inside the world’s first nuclear waste tomb in Finland
The world’s first geological tomb for nuclear waste is rapidly taking shape more than 400 metres below the forests of Finland.
Batches of lethally radioactive uranium will start arriving within two years for burial in the warren of tunnels carved into the bedrock.
Other countries, including the UK, are considering plans to build their own geological disposal facilities, which should safely isolate the 260,000 tonnes of highly radioactive waste that has accumulated worldwide since the dawn of nuclear power in the 1950s.
Sky News was given rare access to the site, called Onkalo, which means “cavity” in Finnish. It is built next to three nuclear reactors on the country’s southwestern coast.
Security was so tight in the aftermath of the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline that there was a strict no-filming rule above ground.
But we were taken down the 5km access road that winds through the bedrock, so deep that our ears popped.
At the bottom, further tunnels fanned out. So far five have been completed, but up to 100 could be built over the coming decades, stretching to more than 40 miles in all.
Our guide was Sanna Mustonen, a geologist and senior project manager for Posiva, the company that runs the facility.
She said the bedrock was formed almost two billion years ago and has remained intact ever since.
“The rock itself, like in the whole area of Finland, is very stable,” she said.
“We have old rock. We don’t have continental plates nearby, so we don’t have any earthquakes, seismicity, or things like that.”
The waste will be sealed in double-layered metal cannisters
‘There must be security’
Like other countries Finland stores spent nuclear fuel above ground in shielded bunkers while it seeks a long-term solution.
But Mika Pohjonen, managing director of Posiva, said it would be irresponsible to leave such dangerous waste where it could fall into the wrong hands.
He told Sky News: “If you look at history, 300 years back, how many wars have there been in Europe, for example?
“On the surface the interim storage needs active measures from humans, the building needs to be heated, the spent fuel must be cooled, there must be security around it.
“If you look a generation forward you cannot really see that that kind of arrangement would be risk-free enough.”
Various solutions to the nuclear industry’s waste problem have been suggested, including: launching it into deep space, burying it in an ocean trench and dropping it into a fissure in the Earth’s crust.
They’ve been dismissed as unfeasible, expensive or environmentally risky.
The facility is being built into the bedrock of Finland
‘Safe for one million years’
Instead, Posiva will encase spent nuclear fuel in double-layered metal cannisters that will slot into holes bored in the floor of the tunnels.
To keep them dry, they will be swaddled in bentonite, an absorbent material used in cat litter.
More bentonite will be used to backfill the tunnels, which will be plugged with concrete.
When the complex is full in around a century’s time, with perhaps as many as 3,250 cannisters, it will be sealed up and all trace removed above ground.
“It will be safe for one million years,” Mr Pohjonen said.
“There may not be humans here any more because in that time there will be ice ages or [this area will be] underwater but this is designed to keep it out of the biosphere.”
Dummy cannisters are already buried in bentonite and surrounded by sensors.
Some scientists have warned water could corrode the metal, become radioactive and then rise to the surface over millennia.
But Posiva says the multiple barriers keep the waste in and water out. And if there was a leak in a highly unlikely worst-case scenario, modelling shows that by the time any water reached the surface in 10,000 years the radioactivity would have decayed so much that it would not be a threat to life.
Finland’s progress has been watched closely by other countries. Sweden has begun construction of its own deep geological disposal site. France, Switzerland and the UK are further behind.
A shortlist of four possible sites in Cumbria and Lincolnshire has been drawn up.
The metal cannisters will be entombed underground
Read more:
New nuclear power station granted development consent by the government
Inside the most hazardous building in western Europe as work to remove radioactive sludge begins
Bruce Cairns, chief policy adviser at the UK’s Nuclear Waste Services, was also taking a look at Onkalo while we were there.
He said responsible permanent disposal for waste is essential as the country commissions a new generation of reactors.
“We have 70 years’ worth of waste in the UK that’s already accumulated from energy production, defence and industrial processes.
“It’s not going anywhere unless we do something with it. We have to take action to make sure this is managed responsibly, not just for now but for the long term as well.”
Key to Finland’s progress has been engagement with the local community.
Olkiluoto nuclear power station
Locals in favour
The nearest settlement is Eurajoki, about 10 miles away.
The existing nuclear reactors were already big local employers and when the area was selected from a shortlist of disposal sites the local authority voted overwhelmingly in favour.
Vesa Lakaniemi, the town’s mayor, said: “We have had nuclear power here for 40 years.
“People know about nuclear and final [waste] disposal much more than in the areas which don’t have a nuclear power plant.
“Trust has developed over four decades.”
Around 14 million people could die across the world over the next five years because of cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), researchers have warned.
Children under five are expected to make up around a third (4.5 million) of the mortalities, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal.
Estimates showed that “unless the abrupt funding cuts announced and implemented in the first half of 2025 are reversed, a staggering number of avoidable deaths could occur by 2030”.
“Beyond causing millions of avoidable deaths – particularly among the most vulnerable – these cuts risk reversing decades of progress in health and socioeconomic development in LMICs [low and middle-income countries],” the report said.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
March: ‘We are going to lose children’: Fears over USAID cuts in Kenya
USAID programmes have prevented the deaths of more than 91 million people, around a third of them among children, the study suggests.
The agency’s work has been linked to a 65% fall in deaths from HIV/AIDS, or 25.5 million people.
Eight million deaths from malaria, more than half the total, around 11 million from diarrheal diseases and nearly five million from tuberculosis (TB), have also been prevented.
USAID has been vital in improving global health, “especially in LMICs, particularly African nations,” according to the report.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Queer HIV activist on Trump and Musk’s USAID cuts
Established in 1961, the agency was tasked with providing humanitarian assistance and helping economic growth in developing countries, especially those deemed strategic to Washington.
But the Trump administration has made little secret of its antipathy towards the agency, which became an early victim of cuts carried out by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – formerly led by Elon Musk – in what the US government said was part of a broader plan to remove wasteful spending.
Read more:
USAID explained
USAID ‘a bowl of worms’ – Musk
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
What is USAID?
In March, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said more than 80% of USAID schemes had been closed following a six-week review, leaving around 1,000 active.
The US is the world’s largest humanitarian aid donor, providing around $61bn (£44bn) in foreign assistance last year, according to government data, or at least 38% of the total, and USAID is the world’s leading donor for humanitarian and development aid, the report said.
Between 2017 and 2020, the agency responded to more than 240 natural disasters and crises worldwide – and in 2016 it sent food assistance to more than 53 million people across 47 countries.
The study assessed all-age and all-cause mortality rates in 133 countries and territories, including all those classified as low and middle-income, supported by USAID from 2001 to 2021.
Thailand’s prime minister has been suspended after a leaked phone call with a senior Cambodian politician caused outrage.
An ethics investigation into Paetongtarn Shinawatra is under way and she could end up being dismissed.
The country’s constitutional court took up a petition from 36 senators, who claimed dishonesty and a breach of ethical standards, and voted 7 to 2 to suspend her.
Protesters gathered in Bangkok at the weekend. Pic: Reuters
The prime minister’s call with Cambodia’s former leader, Hun Sen, sparked public protests after she tried to appease him and criticised a Thai army commander – a taboo move in a country where the military is extremely influential.
Ms Shinawatra was trying to defuse mounting tensions at the border – which in May resulted in the death of one Cambodian soldier.
Thousands of conservative, nationalist protesters held a demo in Bangkok on Saturday to urge her to step down.
Her party is clinging on to power after another group withdrew from their alliance a few weeks ago over the phone call. Calls for a no-confidence vote are likely.
Deputy prime minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit will take over temporarily while the court looks into the case.
The 38-year-old prime minister – Thailand‘s youngest ever leader – has 15 days to respond to the probe. She has apologised and said her approach in the call was a negotiating tactic.
Read more from Sky News:
Netanyahu to meet Donald Trump next week
Cannes bringing in ‘drastic regulation’ on cruise ships
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
The popularity of her government has slumped recently, with an opinion poll showing an approval rating of 9.2%, down from 30.9% in March.
Ms Shinawatra comes from a wealthy dynasty synonymous with Thai politics.
Her father Thaksin Shinawatra – a former Manchester City owner – and aunt Yingluck Shinawatra served as prime minister before her – in the early to mid 2000s – and their time in office also ended ignominiously amid corruption charges and military coups.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be meeting Donald Trump next Monday, according to US officials.
The visit on 7 July comes after Mr Trump suggested it was possible a ceasefire in Gaza could be reached within a week.
On Sunday, he wrote on social media: “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”
At least 60 people killed across Gaza on Monday, in what turned out to be some of the heaviest attacks in weeks.
Benjamin Netanyahu, left, with Donald Trump during a previous meeting. Pic: Reuters
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, 56,500 people have been killed in the 20-month war.
The visit by Mr Netanyahu to Washington has not been formally announced and the officials who said it would be going ahead spoke on condition of anonymity.
An Israeli official in Washington also confirmed the meeting next Monday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was in constant communication with the Israeli government.
She said Mr Trump viewed ending the war in Gaza and returning remaining hostages held by Hamas as a top priority.
Read more from Sky News:
Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite form of transport to be scrapped
How does sunscreen work?
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
The war in Gaza broke out in retaliation for Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw a further 250 taken hostage.
An eight-week ceasefire was reached in the final days of Joe Biden’s US presidency, but Israel resumed the war in March after trying to get Hamas to accept new terms on next steps.
Talks between Israel and Hamas have stalled over whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike