Finland advances with Onkalo waste repository
Finland nearing opening of world’s first permanent nuclear waste repository
Friday, 23 October 2026
Photo by Maksim Shutov on Unsplash
Warm-up
- What energy sources are common in your country?
- How should dangerous waste be stored safely?
- Would you live near a power station? Why or why not?
Vocabulary
- licence
- an official document that gives permission to do something
- underground
- below the surface of the ground
- storage
- the act of keeping things in a place for later use
- reactor
- a machine in a nuclear plant where energy is produced
- copper
- a reddish-brown metal used to make strong containers and wires
- clay
- a heavy, sticky earth that can be shaped and hardens when dry
- radioactive
- giving off energy from atoms that can be dangerous
- verify
- to check that something is true or correct
Reading
Listen to this story
British EnglishFinland has granted an operating licence to Onkalo, the world’s first permanent underground storage site for spent nuclear fuel. The facility is on Olkiluoto island in western Finland and is run by waste company Posiva. Posiva says operations are expected soon, but no exact date is set after 22 years of construction. Before opening, tests and inspections must be verified and approved by STUK, Finland’s radiation safety authority.
Onkalo will hold 6,500 tonnes of uranium from the country’s five reactors. The fuel will be sealed in copper canisters, lowered into holes in bedrock, packed with bentonite clay, then closed with a steel-reinforced concrete plug. The waste will stay highly radioactive for tens of thousands of years. Posiva says after about 100,000 years, levels should be similar to uranium ore.
Final repositories are also being built in Sweden and France, but Finland is expected to open first. The project’s cost is estimated at $1.16bn.
Comprehension
- What major step did Finland take for the Onkalo facility?
- Where in Finland is Onkalo located?
- Who must verify and approve the tests before opening?
- How much uranium can Onkalo store?
- Which other countries are building final repositories?
Grammar focus
Both/either/neither
Both … and + plural verb. Either … or / Neither … nor: the verb agrees with the nearer subject (proximity rule). Two singular parts → singular verb; if the nearest part is plural → plural verb. (Examples constructed.)
- Both tests and inspections are required before opening.
- With no set date, neither day nor month is confirmed.
Grammar exercise
Circle the correct option in each sentence.
- Both canisters (is / are) sealed before lowering.
- Either Sweden or France (is / are) Finland’s neighbour.
- Neither test nor inspection (is / are) skipped.
- Both tests and inspections (needs / need) approval.
- Either a hole or a tunnel (is / are) mentioned in the article.
Discussion
- Is long-term underground storage a good solution? Why?
- Which safety steps at Onkalo seem strongest or weakest to you?
- Should local people have a say in where such sites are built?
- How should countries handle the cost of nuclear waste?
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