Safeguards by Design in Finland : World’s First Encapsulation Plant and Disposal Facility
Ingegneri, Maurizio; Bofarull, Valentí Canadell; Honkamaa, Tapani; Martikka, Elina; Moring, Mikael; Vaccaro, Stefano; Schwalbach, Peter; Koutsoyannopoulos, Christos; Murtezi, Mentor; Zein, Ali; Okko, Olli; Lahti, Maria E; Park, Wan-Sou; Enkhjin, Luvsantseren; Baird, Kenneth (2016-07-24)
Ingegneri, Maurizio
Bofarull, Valentí Canadell
Honkamaa, Tapani
Martikka, Elina
Moring, Mikael
Vaccaro, Stefano
Schwalbach, Peter
Koutsoyannopoulos, Christos
Murtezi, Mentor
Zein, Ali
Okko, Olli
Lahti, Maria E
Park, Wan-Sou
Enkhjin, Luvsantseren
Baird, Kenneth
INMM
24.07.2016
Tiivistelmä
This paper describes the multi-party consultative process of designing safeguards measures and the necessary safeguards infrastructure for the Encapsulation Plant (EP) and the Geological Repository (GR) in Finland. These facilities, now under design and construction, are the first of this type in the world. After a Decision-in-Principle by the Finnish Government in 2001, the spent nuclear fuel management company Posiva provided a construction license application for the encapsulation plant and geological repository to the Government in December 2012. In November 2015 the Government granted the license to construct the EP and the GR. The operator (Posiva), Finnish State Regulatory Authority (STUK), IAEA and the European Commission are cooperating on developing safeguards measures and on designing the necessary safeguards infrastructure for these facilities. The international and national safeguards measures have to create confidence that no nuclear material is diverted and no undeclared nuclear activities take place at the facilities. The spent fuel disposed of will not be accessible for verification using traditional safeguards measures. Moreover, the operational phase of the facilities will last over a century, thus the safeguards-related technological infrastructure should be flexible and upgradable. Planning the safeguards measures and designing the necessary safeguards infrastructure during the design phase of the facilities has many benefits. Cost-efficiency is assured by including into the facility design safeguards equipment such as cameras, radiation detectors, cables and conduits etc. The experience gained so far with this project has confirmed once more that the early provision of design information and safeguards by design dialogue between international and national actors is mutually beneficial and essential for the overall success of safeguards.