The paper is an analysis of the on-going legal review of the Swedish nuclear industry's application for a license to build a final repository for spent nuclear fuel at the Forsmark nuclear power plant. The industry's nuclear waste company, the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co., SKB, submitted the license application in March 2011. Since then the application is under review by the Swedish regulator, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, and in parallel by the Swedish Environmental Court. The review process is presently considering what additional work has to be done by SKB in order for the application to be reviewed on its merits. A number of issues are being considered, including alternative siting and methods, i.e. the use of very deep boreholes. However, the most problematic issue for the nuclear waste company is the possible lack of sufficient scientific evidence that the artificial barriers of copper and bentonite clay - that are fundamental for the long-term safety case - will work as intended. If the company fails to provide the regulator and the court with sufficient evidence that the safety case is valid the application may be rejected.
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