Vincent Ialenti is a former Energy Department program manager and a senior research fellow at Tampere University in Finland.
On Oct. 22, Finland granted a nuclear waste company the world’s first operating license for a deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel — the highly radioactive material left behind by reactors. At Onkalo, more than 1,400 feet below the Baltic islet of Olkiluoto, copper canisters surrounded by clay will be built to secure nuclear waste for hundreds of thousands of years. Final disposal will begin after tests and safety inspections are completed.