THE EDIT
Your monthly briefing on the journey to fossil freedom
Issue #28, Nuclear, November 2025
Photo: SKB
Sweden builds final resting place for nuclear waste
What to know: Deep below Forsmark on Sweden’s east coast, a groundbreaking project is taking shape: a final repository for high-level spent nuclear fuel. Led by SKB, the Swedish nuclear fuel and waste management company, this is one of the first of its kind in the world. When completed, the facility will include 60 kilometres of tunnels more than 500 metres underground – designed to safely store spent fuel from Sweden’s current fleet of nuclear reactors for thousands of years.
Why it matters: Final disposal of nuclear waste is one of the most complex and politically sensitive questions in energy planning – and one that many nuclear countries still haven’t solved. The Forsmark repository is a model that may shape how other nations manage nuclear waste in the future.
Modular nuclear reactors. Concept illustration
Why modular reactors?
All around the world, the buzz around SMRs – modular reactors – is louder than ever. Factory-built, modular units shipped and assembled on site decrease project risk and footprint. With fossil-free electricity demand rising, SMRs are in many cases seen as a faster, more predictable way to add nuclear capacity.
SMR projects in Europe
Modular reactors come in many shapes and sizes, some smaller, some bigger. A few European projects are more developed, such as in in the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Poland, Estonia and Sweden, while others are still in the early stages of planning. The map shows all projects reported by World Nuclear Association.
Photo: Vattenfall
Dismantling of a nuclear power plant: A look behind the scenes
Once part of Germany’s electricity backbone, the Brunsbüttel nuclear power plant close to Hamburg is now in its final chapter – a meticulous, multi-year decommissioning project. Since 2019, nearly 1,000 tonnes of equipment have been dismantled, most of it cleaned and recycled. Just a small fraction of the plant’s materials will require long-term storage.
News flash
3 x quick updates from the energy world
Photo: Adobe Stock
Future Islands
How does a tiny country that has based its economy on fossil fuels handle a new energy landscape? For Trinidad and Tobago, the question is essential for the nation’s future, as this article in The Guardian shows.(theguardian.com)
Photo: AI-generated
Bacteria power
Most organisms use oxygen to turn food into energy, but scientists have found a bacterium that survives by releasing energy without breathing. This breakthrough could inspire new energy solutions. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
Photo: AI-generated
Every step you take
Wired is examining whether humans with a bit of spring in their step could be turned into electric energy through energy-generating sidewalks. So hey baby, take a walk on the clean-energy side. (www.wired.com)
And finally …
Big city of tidal dreams
In the Port of Los Angeles, among sea lions and pelicans, an interesting on-shore wave power project is currently underway, the first of its kind. Every time the conditions are right, seven smurf-blue, boat-like steel structures are lowered into the water and follow the rise and fall of the waves to collect renewable energy. The electricity generated by the pilot project may not be enough to supply more than the area closest to the harbour, but the hope is that the project will demonstrate that the technology works and can therefore be scaled up. There is great potential in wave power. Calculations by the US Department of Energy show that this type of power could account for roughly one-third of the country's energy needs, writes AP News.
