Oras Tynkkynen

Onkalo’s Safety Case Rests on Barriers, Not Guarantees

Finland’s Onkalo repository is designed to seal spent nuclear fuel 430 metres beneath the surface, using copper canisters, bentonite clay and ancient bedrock to contain waste for timescales no engineering system has demonstrated. Financial Times reporter Richard Milne presents the project as a response to an existing problem, not a guarantee of safety across deep time. Finnish officials argue it is the best available option, while acknowledging that its design depends on local geology and cannot simply be copied elsewhere.