Leading global engineering and consulting firm Golder, together with its new parent company WSP, have been appointed by the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management company SKB to deliver a detailed design for the expansion of SKB’s Final Repository For Short-Lived Radioactive Waste in Sweden. SKB has for many years developed and operated comprehensive facilities for disposal of radioactive waste. Both Golder and WSP, who came together in a strategic acquisition finalized in April of this year, have more than 20+ years of experience working with SKB on various projects, from site selection to operation.
The existing repository for low and medium level waste in Forsmark, Sweden (SFR), has been in operation since 1988. The facility stores waste from Sweden’s nuclear power plants, as well as waste from healthcare and industry, inside rock caverns 60 meters below the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The expansion will enable the disposal of radioactive waste from decommissioned Swedish nuclear power plants.
By combining capabilities, Golder and WSP, together with Amberg Group, will deliver the detailed design of rock caverns for the extension of SFR. The scope of work includes design for rock extraction, rock reinforcement, raise drilling, grouting, managing leaking groundwater and designing of necessary attachments in rock.
“This is an exciting project for us as a newly combined organization, where our colleagues will come together and collaborate on an impressive and important extension for our client SKB. Both companies have extensive experience working for SKB in the past and our joint efforts and combined expertise will bring further technical depth as we service our client’s needs. We look forward to working together and supporting SKB on this important and technically challenging project,” says Jessica Öhr Hellman, Department Manager Rock Mechanics at WSP in Sweden.
The SFR expansion project includes six new 255 to 275 meters long rock caverns at a depth of approximately -150 m below the water’s surface. Amberg Group will support the project with 3D numerical calculations while the Golder and WSP technical team will focus on areas including rock engineering, geology, grouting, hydrogeology, construction, risk, information security, design management, quality assurance, production planning and Building Information Modeling (BIM) coordination. The detailed design project is expected to be delivered by the end of 2022.
Photo courtesy of SKB. The gray part is the existing rock caverns, and the blue part shows the planned extension.
