Lithuania is making progress with its nuclear waste management project, identifying 77 potential sites for a geological repository for spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste.
The project is part of the Development Program for Nuclear Facilities and Radioactive Waste Management 2021-2030.
Selection Criteria
Lithuania’ s current nuclear waste is stored in temporary surface facilities designed to last at least 50 years.
At the end of this period, the waste will have to be transferred to a deep repository, a specialized structure located several hundred meters underground.
The initial phase of the project, focused on identifying the repository site, is currently underway.
To select the site, Lithuania is evaluating potential areas according to three main criteria established by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): long-term safety, technical suitability and operational safety, as well as socio-economic, political and environmental circumstances.
Evaluation process
Of the 110 sites initially identified, 33 were eliminated after independent studies.
These were based on non-compliance criteria, such as the presence of groundwater, mineral deposits and helium anomalies, as well as socio-economic criteria.
To date, 77 sites remain in contention in 29 Lithuanian municipalities.
In March, a public consultation in Vilnius presented the project and its installation stages to municipal representatives.
Participants were able to ask questions and receive detailed answers.
Future Studies and Consultations
Final site selection will only be made after in-depth studies, including geological, geophysical and seismic analyses from deep boreholes, and further public consultation.
The site selection research program is scheduled for completion by 2047.
Construction of the repository is scheduled for 2058-2067, with commissioning between 2068 and 2074 and closure between 2075 and 2079.
Partnerships and International Expertise
The concept for the Lithuanian geological repository is being developed by Posiva Solutions Oy, a subsidiary of the Finnish waste management company.
Posiva, owned by Finnish nuclear companies, has developed the geological repository in Finland, scheduled to be operational by the mid-2020s, becoming the first of its kind in the world.
A geological repository is a network of highly engineered underground vaults and tunnels, designed to permanently dispose of high-level radioactive waste without dangerous levels of radiation reaching the surface.
Countries such as Finland, Sweden, France, Canada, the UK and the USA are also pursuing this option.
The two large-scale RBMK reactors at the Ignalina nuclear power plant supplied 70% of Lithuania’s electricity until they were shut down in 2004 and 2009 as a prerequisite for the country’s accession to the European Union.
The plant is currently being dismantled by Ignalina NPP, with the fuel removed from the reactors and placed in dry containers for interim storage on site.
The dismantling process is scheduled to last until 2038.
