ONKALO

© SchirraGiraldi (Manuela Schirra and Fabrizio Giraldi)

ONKALO is the world's first Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) for spent nuclear fuel and it will be operative in 2025. ONKALO is located on Olkiluoto Island, in southwest Finland, in an area of 800 hectares of woods surrounded by the sea. In Finnish ONKALO means "hidden place" or "place to hide things". The facility will host third degree nuclear waste at a depth of 455 meters into the granite rock and will permanently house the waste from the five Finnish reactors.

Since 1994, according to Finnish law, all nuclear waste produced in Finland must be disposed of in the country. Olkiluoto was selected in 2000 as the site for the construction of the deep repository and in 2004 the excavation began.

The Posiva underground research facility is a registered trademark in the European Union since September 2018 protecting the Posiva's know-how and the ONKALO brand and now the know-how and the technology can be acquired.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requires all nations to establish a deep repository for spent nuclear fuel.  Today there are more than 440 active reactors in the world.

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