Kemakta strives to participate in various collaborations with both Swedish and international companies and organizations. Kemakta maintains close contact with universities and regularly participates in different research projects. Examples of international projects and collaborations include:
AgriAs (2017 – 2020) – an EU project under the Water Joint Programming Initiative “Water Challenges for a Changing World.” Kemakta’s participation was co-financed by FORMAS. The coordinator and project leader was the Finnish Geological Survey. The main objective of the project was to assess health and environmental risks from arsenic in agricultural soil and to develop methods to reduce exposure. Kemakta developed a model to compare the risks from a contaminated area with the risks from exposure to background levels of arsenic. Various water purification methods and soil additives were studied, and their sustainability was assessed. A summary of the project can be found in the article ”Risk management for arsenic in agricultural soil–water systems: lessons learned from case studies in Europe”, Kirsti Loukola-Ruskeeniem m. fl., November 2021, Journal of Hazardous Materials 424(5):127677 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127677
IAEA (2016 – 2024) – Kemakta participated in a project for the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), which aimed to develop reference values for the disposal of radioactive material that may arise during cleanup after a nuclear accident. To calculate the reference values, further development was made to the model used to develop IAEA’s and the EU’s general clearance levels (Basic Safety Standards). The project was extended in order to develop a methodology and a model for developing clearance levels for recycling, incineration, and disposal of materials with very low radioactivity arising from the decommissioning of nuclear facilities, such as metal, concrete, combustible material, and soil.
Äspö Task Force (2017 – 2021) – From 2017 to 2021, Kemakta acted as the Prinicpal Investigator for Task 9D within the Äspö Task Force. The Äspö Task Force is an international collaboration led by SKB, including representatives from national nuclear waste programs from six different countries (Finland, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Czech Republic, Germany, and the USA) aiming to interpret and model experiments conducted at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (HRL) and the Onkalo underground laboratory in Finland. The goal of the project was to develop transport models that more realistically represent heterogeneity affecting the retention and retardation processes of radionuclides in crystalline rock at depths of several hundred meters.
EURARE (2013 – 2017) – a project under the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme aiming to develop sustainable production methods for rare earth elements from European mineral resources. Kemakta was responsible for evaluating radiation protection issues and assessing the health and environmental impacts of production.
BioMore (2015 – 2018) – a project under the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme aimed at developing methods for in-situ leaching of metals from deep ore bodies that are difficult to exploit otherwise. Kemakta was responsible for evaluating the environmental impact of such mining.
CROCK (2011–2013) – was an EU Seventh Framework Programme (EURATOM) project aimed at reducing uncertainties in long-term predictions of radionuclide migration in the crystalline rock repository far-field. Kemakta led Work Package 4 (WP4), with a focus on the generation of reliable data, improving understanding of radionuclide migration controls, and evaluating modelling approaches. The knowledge gained has guided further research and development at Kemakta, in collaboration with SKB, and has been directly applied to data recommendations in SKB’s safety assessments SR-Site and SR-PSU, as well as ongoing preparations for future safety assessments.