# Nuclear Waste and Decommissioning

**URL:** https://thecodex.expert/energy/nuclear/waste/
**Session:** 28 | **Date:** 2026-05-05

## Summary

Nuclear waste categories: HLW (High-Level Waste, spent fuel, ~100,000 yr isolation), ILW (~10,000 yr), LLW (~300 yr). Global spent fuel: ~370,000 tonnes HM (IAEA 2023). Permanent repositories: Onkalo Finland (61.24N 21.44E, Posiva Oy, 400-450m granite, KBS-3 copper canister method, first disposal ~2025 — world's first approved deep geological repository), WIPP USA (32.37N 104.22W, operational 1999, transuranic defence waste only). Sellafield UK (54.42N 3.47W, £121 billion lifetime cost, 70 years cleanup, NDA). Chernobyl NSC (51.39N 30.10E, €1.5B steel arch 2016). Reprocessing: La Hague France (49.72N 1.85W, Orano, 1,700 tHM/yr), Rokkasho Japan (40.97N 141.32E, delayed). WIPP New Mexico. Why Onkalo succeeded: stable granite, slow groundwater, municipal vote, 40 years of site selection. Sources: IAEA Nuclear Technology Review 2024, Posiva Oy, NDA UK AR 2024.