Waste and mineral by-products (EN22)
Waste includes radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, by-products from combustion power plants (including ash), and other treated waste.
Radioactive waste
Nuclear power plants in Sweden and Germany generate radioactive waste. The handling of radioactive waste is further described under management approach. The amount of spent nuclear fuel was lower in 2008 and 2007 compared with 2006 due to outages at nuclear power plants. The amount of medium and low-level radioactive waste and nuclear core components depends on ongoing projects in the nuclear power plants and which year the waste is deposited.
Sweden | Germany | Total 2008 | Total 2007 | Total 2006 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medium and low-level radioactive operational waste (m3) | 3,650 | 21.8 | 3,670 | 1,290 | 488 |
| Nuclear core components (tonnes) | 0.273 | 0 | 0.273 | 10 | 4.5 |
| Spent nuclear fuel – assemblies taken out (tonnes) | 206 | 0 | 206 | 202 | 245 |
| Spent nuclear fuel – original uranium content (tonnes)1) | 147 | 0 | 147 | 148 | 176 |
1) Original uranium content is a subset of assemblies taken out
Treated waste
Handling ash from waste incineration is strictly regulated. Ash is reused to the greatest possible extent, and smaller fractions with high metal content are deposited at special sites. Fly ash from Uppsala waste incineration plant is sent to Langøya, Norway for reuse as filling material. Amounts of waste vary from year to year depending on type of operation, ongoing construction work ,etc.
A significant quantity of waste in the Nordic distribution operation consists of discarded poles from overhead distribution grid lines. The Swedish distribution network alone uses approximately 1.2 million poles, most of which are impregnated with creosote. When poles are replaced, the discarded poles are used as fuel at the Ludvika Heat power plant. In 2008, 15,000 poles were used as fuel.
ktonnes | Sweden | Finland | Denmark | Germany | Poland | Total 2008 | Total 2007 | Total 2006 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazardous waste excl. radioactive | Recovered | 1.58 | 0.051 | 0.058 | 75.1 | 0.137 | 77.0 | 79.0 | 45.3 |
| Deposited | 0.233 | 0.23 | 1.20 | 19.5 | 0.540 | 21.7 | 19.5 | 43.3 | |
| Non-hazardous waste | Recovered | 4.10 | 2.39 | 3.79 | 173 | 9.90 | 193 | 267 | 156 |
| Deposited | 17.7 | 0.117 | 0.377 | 19.0 | 1.25 | 38.4 | 24.3 | 27.7 |
By-products
The most significant by-products are ash from lignite and hard coal-fired plants, and gypsum from flue-gas desulphurisation. This gypsum is sold to Europe’s gypsum and cement industry.
Ash from lignite power plants is mainly used in the open-cast mining area for landscaping the post-mining environment. Ash from Vattenfall’s hard coal combustion in Germany is used as a component in construction materials. In Poland, 100% of the ash from coal combustion is currently used, for example in road construction. Most of ring roads of the neighbouring cities have been built using ash from Vattenfall plants.
Ash from the CHP Siekierki plant meets the requirements of the EN 450 norm and is therefore a product that may be used for production of concrete. In Denmark, all coal ash and gypsum is used primarily for industrial purposes, e.g., in the building and construction industry. Almost all ash from heat operations in Sweden is recycled, mainly as construction and filling material, such as in road construction. Some of the ash from biomass combustion is spread in forests as fertiliser.
In 2008, in countries where fossil based generation decreased, this also resulted in less ash produced. As biomass fuel use increases, ash from biomass fuels also increases.
ktonnes | Sweden | Finland | Denmark | Germany | Poland | Total 2008 | Total 2007 | Total 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fly ash | 10.3 | 14.5 | 250 | 4,430 | 475 | 5,180 | 4,980 | 4,930 |
| Furnace bottom ash | 5.29 | 1.06 | 25.8 | 1,070 | 55 | 1,160 | 1,170 | 1,250 |
| Ash from biomass fuels | 47.5 | 2.99 | 0.165 | 13.6 | 0.0 | 64.2 | 55.2 | 46.9 |
| Slag from waste incineration | 56.4 | 0 | 0 | 231 | 0.0 | 287 | 275 | 276 |
| Gypsum | 0.608 | 0 | 51.4 | 2,860 | 0.0 | 2,910 | 3,060 | 3,090 |
| Other by-products | 4.24 | 0 | 28.5 | 44.6 | 0.0 | 77.4 | 61 | 86.2 |
| Total | 124 | 18.6 | 355 | 8,650 | 531 | 9,680 | 9,590 | 9,690 |
1) Rounding differences, affecting the last significant digit, may occur in this table.
