Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (Äspölaboratoriet) is aresearch site located outsideOskarshamn inKalmar County,Sweden. The laboratory is located in theMisterhult archipelago, near theOskarshamn Nuclear Power Plant (Oskarshamns Kärnkraftverk).[1][2]
The Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory is a research facility whose construction started in 1995 for studying the futuregeological disposal of spent nuclear fuel. The plant is owned and operated by Svensk Nuclear Fuel Management AB (Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB). It was built to test different methods and possibilities for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel. At the laboratory, a series of experiments is performed at depths of 500 metres (1,600 ft) into thebedrock. Swedish and international experts cooperate inin situ experiments in the underground laboratory.
Much of the research is done for the construction of the future Spent Fuel Repository. There is no spent nuclear fuel on the site, which makes it possible to keep the Äspö laboratory open to the public. There is an exhibition at the site with information and also guided tours via a tunnel down through the bedrock, which takes the visitors as far as 500 metres (1,600 ft) below ground.[3]
57°25′58″N16°39′41″E / 57.43291°N 16.66128°E /57.43291; 16.66128
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