Source: www.mkg.se På svenska Abstract of presentation at
Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, 2005-12-06; and
The Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, 2005-12-08 A
nuclear waste repository located below a regional groundwater
recharge area may provide significant hydrogeologic safety
advantages in Sweden, adding to the safety provided by the
engineered barrier system. This concept of multiple-barrier
waste isolation has been an essential element of the repository
system to be implemented in Sweden. At a recharge-area
repository location, should the unlikely event of engineered
barrier failure occur, escaping radionuclides would follow
extremely long and deep subsurface paths, allowing most
radionuclides to decay to harmless levels before reaching the
surface. In contrast, a nuclear waste repository located within
a groundwater discharge area has very short paths, possibly
allowing escaping radionuclides to reach the surface in a short
time. Because most coastal areas of Sweden are within or ne