These tunnels are designed for 100,000 years

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Published 2019-09-30
Onkalo, on the Finnish island of Olkiluoto, is planned to be the first geologic storage facility for high-level nuclear waste: eventually sealed for 100,000 years. I got to see inside.

Thanks to all the team from Olkiluoto, TVO and Posiva: you can find out more at www.posiva.fi/en/final_disposal/onkalo

Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin)
Audio mix by Haerther Productions haerther.net/

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All Comments (21)
  • @TomScottGo
    There's some difficult audio in here, thanks to background noise - but as with all my videos, full English subtitles are available. Volunteer translations are currently on hold while YouTube sorts out a spam problem; hopefully they'll be back soon!
  • @YellowBunny
    "There is little reason for digging this deep, particularly here..." It would have been awkward if they had dug their tunnels only to find that nuclear waste had already been buried there.
  • @gustavbw
    "But in their greed, the dwarfes dug deeper and deeper. Deeper than any before. And down there, they found something long forgotten. Something from another age of shadow and fire..."
  • @Steets
    The tone of this video is absolutely astounding. The ominous howling in the tunnels, the matter-of-fact tone of both Tom and the guest speakers, everything. It is genuinely humbling to think this facility is intended to last. Forever.
  • @BriggsA
    "Wow, this place looks super honourable. I hope there are some valuable things here. I hope some cool deeds are esteemed here!"
  • @benbrown7458
    Tom went to Finland to film a river and shot this while waiting for the taxi to the airport...
  • See you all in 100,000 years when YouTube recommends this again...
  • @jamiereid9322
    Ideal solution to keep it protected would be a mix of both. Completely hide it so no one has any idea what is there, but at points underground if someone were to dig have warnings and markings before they reach the actual containment facility.
  • @jasuize
    It's such a weird feeling seeing you walking around the same places I have been (I visited those tunnels in a school trip) Especially when I didn't know this video was going to be in Finland. Fun surprise!
  • Alternate title: “Super Scott’s Origin Story”
  • @HYPER-FREEZER
    So you're telling me you weren't in Finland just for the 10 second river clip?
  • @bogbert7019
    It's really great to see actual solutions to the problem of nuclear waste being put into effect. Nuclear energy gets a lot of flak, and the waste argument is a valid one, but with solutions like this maybe things will turn around for nuclear energy
  • @Jim54_
    Our rejection of nuclear power was a massive mistake, and the environment has payed dearly for it as we continue to rely on fossil fuels for our electricity
  • so THAT'S WHY Tom took a 15 second shot of the "shortest river" in Finland last video.
  • @AbsolXGuardian
    The end stuff reminded me of a story I read about someone's DnD game were the dungeon was actually a nuclear waste facility from a long gone civilization. All the things to warn people away, and all the skeletons around and in the dungeon, just enticed the players more
  • @dbadaddy7386
    The real problem is not finding locations, it's NIMBY. The New Mexico pilot plant, to test idea, was a good thing. I wouldn't have a problem with it near where I live, except that I live in Florida and it's a limestone sponge. I've had people argue with me over it, and I told them I'd be happy to have it near me if they could provide the engineering to show it's at least as good as either the pilot plant location or Yucca Mountain, because it literally is a case of location matters.
  • @raydunakin
    Permanent storage of nuclear waste isn't difficult. Overcoming the objections of anti-nuke absolutists is the only real obstacle.
  • @3kbschannel288
    Tom "curses aren't real.." Also Tom: cursed with looking 22 for the rest of his life
  • @tipetu
    To quote some Finnish guys "It is dangerous and we must deal with it"
  • @Garjahn
    Hiding it by leaving no traces on the surface is smart, but you should still leave warnings around the material itself! Onto the end caps, in every human language, just print the word "DEATH" over and over. Carve murals of death and suffering into the containers, then plate them with gold so that they never corrode or fall apart, then likewise surround them with people kneeling, weeping and grasping at the container, having their flesh melted and burned off. And then holding onto the container itself, a single skeleton of twisted, mutated bone racked with agony. If someone digs that up and ignores all the warnings, they get what they deserve!