Apr 29 Proposal for New storage facility Ready

For over a year, a large project organisation has been working on plans for a new, upgraded storage facility for radioactive waste at Risø. These efforts have now resulted in a detailed project proposal.

Until 2073 at the latest,radioactive waste will be stored in two buildings: the main storage facility and a smaller one storage facility with natural ventilation for uranium ore and the so-called tailings. The buildings will be located in the north-western corner of Risø and the whole area will be surrounded by a security fence with a gate guard. This will ensure access control regardless of any future changes to general access to the peninsula.

This marks the first time in many years that such a large nuclear facility is to be constructed in Denmark, making it a demanding and complex project. Numerous authorities are involved, and consideration must also be given to neighbours both at Risø and in the surrounding local area. Therefore, intensive work is underway to ensure that the requirements from, among others, the nuclear regulatory authorities are met.

Once the aspect concerning the nuclear regulatory authorities is in place, work will proceed with the assessment of the project's environmental consequences. This work commenced in autumn 2019 (see the Danish Environmental Protection Agency's website). Similarly, work on a local development plan for the area will continue; Roskilde Municipality serves as the planning authority here.

In addition to the ongoing dialogue with the involved authorities, the project is regularly discussed in Contact Forum Roskilde, where the project's key stakeholders are represented. The focus here is particularly on the visual impact of the buildings and their integration into the surroundings. At the latest meeting on March 22nd, when the project description was ready, members of the Contact Forum were shown the intended exterior design of the buildings – see this presentation of the proposal. All materials for the Contact Forum meetings can also be found on the Ministry of Higher Education and Science's website.

We anticipate that the project will be completed by 2025.

Project Facts

The project proposal includes three buildings:

• The main storage facility with a built-up area of 8736 m2 (70 x 121 meters) and a height of 16.6 meters above ground
• Cold storage facility for ore and tailings, with a built-up area of 1189 m2 (21 x 56 metres) and a height of 13 metres above ground level
• Gatehouse with a built-up area of 194 m2 (9 x 21 metres) and a height of 5 metres above ground level

Project organisation:

• Client: Danish Decommissioning
• Client Advisers: Emcon and sub-adviser BM Arkitekter
• Full service adviser: MOE and sub-advisers Christensen & co Arkitekter and Langebæk A/S