Danish Decommissioning submits final repository framework to civil security agency
The framework leaves site selection and disposal method open; preparatory work such as core staff hiring is proposed for 2027 and construction for 2031.
Key facts
- Parliament's 2018 Proposal B 90 called for 500-meter geological assessments and a repository operating by 2073
- Proposal omits potential sites and disposal method; several repository structures under consideration
- Building permit sought this year for flood-resistant interim storage at Risø, per 2026 performance plan
- Risø comprises three reactors, a hot cell facility, a waste treatment and a fuel fabrication plant
- Denmark banned nuclear power in 1985; waste stems from medical, industrial and research use and Risø decommissioning
Danish Decommissioning said on October 2 that it had submitted a proposal for a final repository for Denmark’s nuclear waste to the Danish Agency for Civil Security. The state-owned entity’s proposal is a framework and does not identify potential sites or the type of deep geological disposal to be used. The framework states that because Proposal B 90 requires any final repository to accept different types of nuclear waste, Danish Decommissioning is considering several repository structures, including some identified in a 2017 preliminary assessment mentioned by B 90.
Proposal B 90, passed by the Danish Parliament in 2018, called for geological assessments of sites in Denmark to a depth of 500 meters, with the goal of a deep geological repository operational by 2073. Danish Decommissioning proposes beginning preparatory work, such as core staff hiring, in 2027 and starting construction in 2031.
Denmark produces no nuclear power under a ban enacted in 1985, and its nuclear waste comes from medical, industrial and research applications and from decommissioning the Risø Nuclear Station. Danish Decommissioning assumed responsibility for that decommissioning project in 2003.
