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Inside world-first underground 'tomb' that no human will be allowed into for 100,000 years

Home> News> Tech News

Published 09:58 3 Dec 2024 GMT

Inside world-first underground 'tomb' that no human will be allowed into for 100,000 years

It lies 1,430 feet underground

Tom Chapman

Tom Chapman

A massive geological tomb has been built in Finland, and much like burying the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, no one will be allowed inside for thousands of years.

Built in Onkalo, the geological tomb won't have a human step inside for at least 10,000 years.

To put it into context, 100,000 years ago marked the start of the last ice age, showing how long ago it really was.

As for the purpose of this underground tomb, it's not going to be filled with buried treasure or artifacts as some sort of time capsule for future generations (if the planet lasts that long). Instead, the Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository will house nuclear waste - hence why no one is allowed inside.

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The Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository will eventually be totally sealed (JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / Contributor / Getty)
The Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository will eventually be totally sealed (JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / Contributor / Getty)

Lying 1,480 feet underground, the Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository aims to be a permanent solution to the temporary storage facilities that house spent fuel rods around the globe.

After being encased in cast-iron and copper cylinders and then wrapped in bentonite clay, the highly radioactive waste is going to be buried deep in Onkalo's bedrock at Onkalo.

It takes 15 minutes to drive down the 4.5-kilometer-long service tunnel to Onkalo's service station.

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Waste canisters arrive at the service area via a lift that comes down from the encapsulation plant on the surface.

They're then lowered down into the deposition tunnel before robotic vehicles take them to vertical deposition holes.

Future Planet's Erika Benke reveals what it's like at the Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository, touring it back in 2023.

Discussing what it was like, Benke said: "I'm alone in a dark tunnel where spent nuclear fuel will decay for millennia. I'm standing at a spot where, starting from 2025, no human should set foot for 100,000 years."

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Not the kind of tomb you might expect (NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty)
Not the kind of tomb you might expect (NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty)

She says that it reminds us of how brief our lives are: "I fleetingly contemplate how minuscule a part of 100,000 years my own life is. I find myself having a flashback from 30 years ago, skiing in the Alps, surrounded by fog so heavy that I didn't know which way was up or down.

"That was my first powerful glimpse of how fragile we are when facing the power of Earth. Onkalo's bedrock has given me a second."

Benke is one of the few people who will get to see inside the facility.

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As the brainchild of Finland's waste management organization Posiva, the Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository will start accepting material in 2026 and be decommissioned in 2100. After the final encapsulation and burial, the access tunnel will be backfilled and sealed off. Not that our future ancestors would want to get inside, but they'll have a long wait on their hands if they want to.

Featured Image Credit: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / Contributor / Getty
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