No human being will be able to enter this place for 100 thousand years, that is the law

Discover Onkalo, a mysterious place off-limits to humans for 100,000 years.

It is a place so unique and mysterious that it evokes a range of contradictory feelings. Located 450 meters underground, Onkalo consists of tunnels dug into living rock. On the way to this site, the stunning landscape of tall pine trees can prompt one to ask existential questions. What will this place look like in 1000 years? Or after 10,000 years? Will future generations realize the danger that lies beneath their feet?

Because in a few years, Finland, where Onkalo is located, will begin burying its used nuclear waste at this site underground. The site’s tunnels were designed to store highly radioactive waste for a period of time that is almost incomprehensible to the human mind. Once this waste is stored, no human should enter it for 100,000 years.

Until now, spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants are temporarily stored in various facilities around the world. However, Finland is the first country to implement what it hopes will be a permanent solution. Within two or three years, this highly radioactive waste will be buried deep in the Onkalo Rock, placed in cast iron and copper cylinders and encased in bentonite clay. The journey to the Onkalo Gas Station, located 437 meters below the surface of the earth, is a winding road through… The tunnel is 4.5 kilometers long. Inside, everything looks surprisingly normal. Workers work as if they were in an open-air factory, even though they are deep underground.

It is also interesting how nuclear waste is dealt with. The waste will arrive at the service area via elevator directly from the above-ground packaging station. They will then be transported deeper into a sedimentation tunnel by automated vehicles that will deposit them into vertical vents – their final resting place.

To prepare site visitors for this unique experience, Posiva, which operates Onkalo, is introducing its first safety video. In a practical way, this video reminds us of the potential dangers of the site and the safety procedures that must be followed. As peaceful as this video seeks to convey, the feeling of standing at the entrance of a place that no human should enter for 100,000 years is impressive.

The key lesson from Onkalo is clear: as humanity continues its technological advancement, it must also bear responsibility for the long-term consequences. Onkalo is an attempt to do just that, by keeping radiation hazards out of human reach for tens of thousands of years. Only time will tell if this solution is truly the right one.