This could become the most radioactive place on earth

Over a quarter of a million tons of highly radioactive waste is just sitting around across the globe, in some cases leaching toxins into the environment. And nobody knows what to exactly to dowith it – except for Finland. We visit the the only high-level nuclear waste storage site in the world.

#Planet A #NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteStorage

Reporter: Kiyo Dörrer
Camera: Florian Kroker
Video editor: Neven Hillebrands
Supervising editors: Joanna Gottschalk, Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann, Michael Trobridge

We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.

Read more:

English site with information about the final repository Onkalo:

Types of nuclear waste:

Studies about copper canister corrosion:

Scientific debate based on previous studies:

Special thanks to the interview partners whose expertise was essential for the video:
David Shoesmith, Jinshan Pan, Johan Swahn, Katy Huff, Markku Lehtonen, Matti Kojo, Päivi Mäenalanen, Wolfram König

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:50 Onkalo History
02:35 Onkalo Geology
03:38 Types of Nuclear Waste
08:50 Eurajoki: The Community
10:45 Transferability
12:32 Conclusion

[YourAliasIsNotAvailable]

"In some cases leeching toxins into the environment"
There is no leaking anymore - the content of these containers are encapsulated in concrete and glass nowadays.
Also there is no fluid inside, those pellets are solid material - it can only "leak" if water get into the containers - which is why you shouldn't throw them in an old abandoned salt mine...
There is also the possibility to recycle and reuse nuclear waste products which leads to much faster decay.

[jimmycher]

Two things I chuckled at:
1. “It took a quarter of an hour to get down there!” Ahhh yes. 15 minutes.
2. Thank you for helping out your American viewers with the conversion of 1/4 million metric tons to 26 Eiffel towers. ❤️

[DB-ubwx]

Humans in a million years digging up thinking they are all tombs 😂

[joyeuxdoomer]

Bure is not only "a proposed site for nuclear waste" but also a laboratory that studies nuclear waste storage for decades.

[nobodynemoq]

Every time I see anything regarding "extremely dangerous nuclear waste", I just can't believe that hardly anyone even tries to address the elephant in the room. Which is also about radioactivity, but... from coal plants.

So much fuss about the nuclear waste, while it is just a small fraction of a waste generated by coal powerplants. And the coal waste is just stored in the open air as the ash - exposed to sunlight, rainwater, air, even though this ash is radioactive as well, and amounts of radioactivity are way higher than from nuclear powerplants, since uranium is very, very effective and actually very small amount of it is used. Just imagine - 1 gram of uranium replaces 3 metric tons of coal! Three million times less source material, and remember that coal is still the dominating source of electricity in the World!

Just one quote from official documents: Studies show that ash from coal power plants contains significant quantities of arsenic, lead, thallium, mercury, uranium and thorium. To generate the same amount of electricity, a coal power plant gives off at least ten times more radiation than a nuclear power plant.

We need to know, that used rods are not simply thrown away as a nuclear waste - they still hold a lot of energy and are reprocessed/recycled into new rods. It is the remaining material that can't be easily used, that is stored as nuclear waste. Also, a lot of medical equipment that has been used with radiology or radiotherapy.

Generally, most of the fuss about nuclear waste comes from anti-atom maniacs, who try to convince us that this is a much more serious issue than it really is.

[BeKindToBirds]

There is an unbelievably huge amount of radioactive material in the ground naturally, this really is a very safe and logical solution and as close to no risk as is possible with the very most efficiency of cost at the same time in balance.

[qdaniele]

I think the reason Finland is way ahead of most nations in choosing the site for their nuclear waste disposal has a lot more to do with their unique geology than their unique mentality.
It's a lot easier to find a suitable place to bury your nuclear waste when your entire country sits inside the East European Craton (a craton being an incredibly old and stable portion of Earth's crust, usually flattened by ages of erosion), and probably in the oldest and most stable part of it.
Things get a little less simple when you introduce younger rocks, volcanism and those pesky active fault lines onto the table.

[jonathantan]

Over 90% of used fuel is still recoverable as material to make new uranium fuel rods, and the technology exists & is used by several nations on a large scale. This greatly reduces the volume & also the need for more uranium mines. I wonder why this was not discussed in the video.

[biologicalhunter]

I really just want to roll a bunch of bouncy balls from the top to the bottom just to see how long they would take. But this was really cool

[tompenston]

Thanks so much for this channel, just about to study my masters in 'energy and Sustainability development' and really kicks in my passion for this field ❤

[tsbrownie]

Arizona was abandoned because locals objected to the facts that the salt bed (highly corrosive and soluble) turned out to have significant water passage (migration of leakage) and was more geologically active than originally thought. Plus salt is a desirable material, easily mined, and readily absorbed by plants, animals, and people. So it was pretty much the opposite of the Finnish site.

[El.Duder-ino]

Fins r once again showing the world how things should be done by not being afraid to take the lead!👍 Its truly remarkable what such a small nation can achieve and surpass even "giants" and world leaders a.k.a. nowadays "empires". Finland got my respect - pragmatic and commons sense approach without any unnecessary BS will get u there. I can only wish 5 mil nation like Slovakia will get there one day with its mentality which relies so much on diversifying almost each and every square meter of its land and people.
Once again great report DW, thank u very much!👏

[kinuorthel]

I would translate "onkalo" as "the cavity".

[padddy]

What is that banger of Techno you put on the beginning of the video that runs until 0:01-0:44 ? I need that in my life. 😂

[kkanthny]

I wish the rest of the world will be more like finland!

[bSixf]

Their mentality to bury the most common and expensive metal used in eletrical systems called copper.

[Karl.Hanzel]

Rather than store nuclear “waste”, trying to preserve it intact for eons, we need to consume & transform it into a non-hazardous state / isotopes.
Others more qualified can surely describe how this would work. “Reprocessing”, generally.

[Demons]

As a foreigner working construction job in Finland i can tell you Finnish job is top notch quality
that nuclear waste is safe for thousands of years if not millions.

[McSlobo]

The containment doesn't have to last up to a million years. Radioactivity decays more or less logarithmically, meaning very fast in the beginning and eventually slower. This means that after 1000-10000 years spent fuel is somewhat safe to handle. The rule of thumb in radioactivity is that the shorter time the stuff remains radioactive the more dangerous it is, and vice versa. Bismuth is radioactive practically infinitely long time, but therefore is absolutely no danger at all, while iodine released from nuclear accident vanishes in about month or so but is therefore highly dangerous.

[dvhqrhg]

Finland should make this facility bigger, as big as any possible.
Then they should take in radioactive waste from other countries, of course at a premium price point.
If the place is 100% safe, then there are no downsides for Finland. But there's a load of money Finland could make and plenty of jobs for Finns for many years to come.

I'm also confident that the Finns will *actually* store this stuff safely. Much more confident than I am in other nations trying to do the same.
So this would be a win win scenario for everyone, including the planet.