Reply to “Superior techniques for disposal of highly radioactive waste (HLW)” by R. Pusch and R. Weston

Safe, long-term disposal of nuclear wastes requires a thorough analysis of the interactions between all components in the proposed repository system. In their article entitled “Superior techniques for disposal of highly radioactive waste (HLW)”, published online in this journal January 26, 2012, the authors Pusch and Weston bring forward severe criticism on the methods our company, SKB, have chosen for disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SKB in Design premises for a KBS-3V repository based on results from the safety assessment SR-Can and some subsequent analyses. SKB TR-09-22, Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB, Stockholm, Sweden, 2009; SKB in Design and production of the KBS-3 repository. SKB TR-10-12, Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB, Stockholm, Sweden, 2010a; Thegerström and Olsson in 13th International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference 2011 (IHLRWMC 2011), April 10–14, 2011. Albuquerque, NM Curran Associates, Inc. ISBN: 9781617828508, 2011) and therefore propose an alternative called KBS-3i, claimed to outperform the method favored by SKB, KBS-3V. We here argue that the authors overlook several effects of their proposed modifications of the disposal concept. The purpose of this reply is to clarify some misconceptions, correct factual errors and provide the interested reader a more nuanced description of the complexities involved in nuclear waste disposal. Here, we focus our reply on a few key topics.