Accumulating nuclear reactor waste

All countries with nuclear power stations are storing wastes in (usually interim) repositories designed for storage low- and medium level wastes. For example, a new low-level waste repository of 1 million cubic meters capacity has been opened at Soulaines France and should be capable of accepting French reactor waste until about 2030; the existing Dukovany facility in the Czech Republic is almost full and a new interim facility is to be built at Dukovany; spent fuel from Finnish reactors is return to the fuel supplier, Russia (Chelyabinsk), for reprocessing and final disposal; in 1994 Germany reopened the Morsleben repository in the former GDR with state political opposition rising to the two existing Lower Saxony repositories; the low-level waste storage facility at El Cabril (Cordoba, Spain) has had its licensed capacity extended in 1994 to 58,000 cubic metres, estimated adequate for another 20 years; at Forsmark, Sweden, a final repository for low-level and medium level waste became operational in 1988; high-level waste (separated out during reprocessing) is stored at Sellafield and Dounreay, UK for 50 years, at which time the UK government plans to take a decision on its disposal.