Finnish best practices in deep repository development

On August 24 representatives of the State Enterprise Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (hereinafter INPP) visited Finland, where Onkalo deep radioactive waste repository project is being implemented. Dmitrij Jekateriničev, Director of the INPP Project Management Department, Andrius Vyšniauskas, the Deep Repository Project Manager, Vaidotė Jakimavičiūtė-Maselienė and Darja Romanova, Senior Specialists of the Infrastructure Development Projects Division, and Erika Gerybaitė, Chief Specialist of the Communications Division took part in the meeting.  During the visit the representatives of INPP, POSIVA and its affiliated consulting company "Posiva Solutions Oy" discussed the underground repository project in Lithuania and saw in personal how the first in the world underground repository that has received a construction license and is currently under construction in Olkiluoto looks like.

Posiva Solutions Oy, an affiliated consulting company of POSIVA, has been a partner of INPP since 2021 in the implementation of the 2021-2030 Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning and Radioactive Waste Management Development Program approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. POSIVA is implementing a deep repository project in Finland and is also contributing to the Lithuanian deep repository project by sharing its successful experience in implementing such a project and preparing general safety criteria to be met during the construction of a deep repository in Lithuania.

During the meeting, representatives of Posiva Solutions Oy organized an unscheduled tour for the INPP employees to the deep repository facility that is currently under construction and explained in detail the complexities of the construction of the facility. The INPP specialists also had an opportunity to visit the repository for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste, the Olkiluoto NPP Information Center, where you can get acquainted with many interactive exhibits and learn more about nuclear power.

After the tour, the representatives of INPP and Posiva Solutions Oy discussed the progress of the Lithuanian deep geological repository project, the results of the current phase and the upcoming works related to the facility project and its implementation.

The NPP employees are grateful to the representatives of the supplier Posiva Solutions Oy for the unique opportunity to visit the facility, see and communicate live with their colleagues, who directly contribute to the implementation of the Onkalo deep repository project.