Sweden approves plan for long-term storage facility for spent nuclear fuel

Sweden's government gave the go-ahead on Thursday for the building of a storage facility to keep the country's spent nuclear fuel safe for the next 100,000 years.

"The Swedish government has today made a completely historic and unique decision that makes it safe to proceed with a final repository," Environment Minister Annika Strandhall told reporters at a news conference.

Sweden's nuclear power plants have produced around 8,000 tonnes of highly radioactive waste - including spent fuel - since they started operating in the 1970s.