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Swedish police hunt for drone seen flying over Forsmark nuclear station.

 Police in Sweden deployed patrols and helicopters to the Forsmark nuclear
plant to hunt for a large drone seen flying over the site late on Friday,
but were unable to catch the unmanned vehicle, they said on Saturday. The
incident came a day after Sweden’s military started patrolling the main
town on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland amid increased tensions between
NATO and Russia and a recent deployment of Russian landing craft in the
Baltic.

 Reuters 15th Jan 2022

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/swedish-police-hunt-drone-seen-flying-over-forsmark-nuclear-plant-2022-01-15/

January 17, 2022 Posted by | incidents, Sweden | Leave a comment

Large drone observed over Forsmark nuclear station in Sweden

A large drone has been observed over the Forsmark nuclear power plant in
eastern Sweden. The police moved out but could not follow it. The drone at
Forsmark was observed at around 8 PM on Friday. At the same time, flying
objects were reported over the Ringhals nuclear power plants on the west
coast and Oskarshamn in the southeast of the country, and, eventually, a
possible drone was also reported at the decommissioned Barsebäck nuclear
power plant in Skåne.

 Norway Today 15th Jan 2022

Large drone observed over Swedish nuclear power plant

January 17, 2022 Posted by | incidents, Sweden | 1 Comment

Swedish environmental groups sound a warning on the government’s plans for a new radioactive waste dump.

On 22 December, the Government decided to approve the extension of the
repository for short-lived radioactive waste in Forsmark (SFR) with a new
repository (SFR 2).

SFR is the current repository for short-lived
radioactive operational waste from the nuclear power plants and is located
under the seabed outside the Forsmark nuclear power plant.

SFR 2 is a new repository for short-lived radioactive waste from the decommissioning of
the Swedish nuclear reactors, and the repository will be built next to the
old one. The government decided to grant permissibility according to the
Environmental Code and a license according to the Nuclear Activities Act.

The decisions can be found in the news story on the MKG Swedish web page
(link below on original)).

The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, The Swedish
Friends of the Earth and the Swedish NGO Office for Nuclear Waste Review
(MKG) have stated that the government should say no to the new repository.
The organisations recently told the government in an opinion that it has
not been shown that the new repository will be safe enough.

The environment risks being damaged by the repository leaking radioactive particles into
the Öregrundsgrepen outside Forsmark faster than expected, perhaps already
within 50 to 100 years after closure. In addition, there is already a
relatively unexpected and extensive breakdown of the technical repository
barriers in the existing repository.

The organisations believe that the
government should have conditioned the decision on leaving the repository
open under supervision for the 400 to 500 years required for the
radioactive content to have decayed to less dangerous levels.

 MKG 22nd Dec 2021

 https://www.mkg.se/en/the-government-approves-the-expansion-of-sfr-in-forsmark

December 24, 2021 Posted by | environment, Sweden, wastes | Leave a comment

Sweden’s Non Government Organisations want the government to reject nuclear repositary plans, on safety grounds

 The new Minister of Climate and Environment Annika Strandhäll at a press
conference on December 8 presented a timetable for a decision on the
planned repository for spent nuclear fuel in Forsmark, and a decision on
the extension of the current repository for short-lived radioactive waste
(SFR 2).

The nuclear fuel repository decision will be taken on January 27,
2022, and the SFR 2 decision already on December 22. The Swedish Society
for Nature Conservation, the Swedish Friends of the Earth and the Swedish
NGO Office for Nuclear Waste Review (MKG) want the government to say no to
both repositories.

The organisations are of the opinion that it has still
not been shown that the spent nuclear fuel repository is safe enough and
believe that the LOT experiment can, if necessary, be used to develop more
knowledge about copper as a canister material before a decision is made.

If the government intends to say yes to the start of construction repository,
the decision should follow the Swedish Council for Nuclear Waste’s proposal
to condition an approval to more research and that a separate decision
under the Environmental Code be given separately to start operation when
that time.

 MKG 8th Dec 2021

https://www.mkg.se/en/the-new-minister-of-the-environment-presents-a-timetable-for-decisions-on-the-spent-nuclear-fuel

December 18, 2021 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, safety, Sweden, wastes | Leave a comment

The growing unsolved problem of nuclear waste – becoming desperate in Sweden.

Five Swedish nuclear reactors may need to close between 2024 and 2028, simply because a temporary site for storing spent fuel will soon be full.
And the Swedish government has yet to approve a final waste repository.

The timetable is that the Forsmark 4 reactor risks closure in 2024, followed in 2025 by Forsmark 3, Ringhals 3 and 4 and finally Forsmark 1 in 2028. Ringhals is owned by a consortium comprising Vattenfall and Uniper, while Forsmark is owned by the same two companies plus Fortum and Skelleftea Kraft.

A Swedish government decision on used nuclear fuel storage must by law be made no later than September 30 this year, so as to avoid exceeding the official permit at the interim storage site at Oskarshamn.

Precisely where nuclear waste is to be stored long-term remains a dilemma which effectively faces every single government that permits nuclear power. And the more such plants are built, the more the problem grows.

 Electrical Review 18th Nov 2021

https://electricalreview.co.uk/2021/11/18/sweden-faces-phase-out-of-nuclear-if-it-cant-find-dumping-sites/

November 20, 2021 Posted by | Sweden, wastes | Leave a comment

Swedish authorities delay permission for nuclear waste dump operation, due to concerns over corrosion of copper in containers

 The Environmental Organizations’ Nuclear Waste Review (MKG), which has the
Friends of the Earth and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation as
members, welcomes the fact that the Nuclear Waste Council has concluded
that there is a need for more copper corrosion research before a nuclear
fuel repository can be put into operation.

In a statement to the Government
on 21 October, the Council proposes that more research on copper corrosion
in a repository environment be conducted after the Government has given
permission to build the repository, and that a separate government decision
be made before the repository is taken into use. MKG believes that it is
already prepared for research within the LOT trial that can yield important
results before the government makes an admissibility decision on the
nuclear fuel repository. Waiting with research until after construction
starts means problems.

 MKG 22nd Oct 2021

https://www.mkg.se/pressmeddelande-fran-mkg-lot-forsoket-kan-ge-viktiga-resultat-innan-ett-regeringsbeslut-om

October 25, 2021 Posted by | safety, Sweden, wastes | Leave a comment

 Swedish insurance group Länsförsäkringar cuts off investment to nuclear weapons.

ICAN. 9 Oct 21, Last week, Swedish insurance group Länsförsäkringar, which has over $40 billion in assets, named the TPNW in its policy as a reason not to invest in nuclear weapons business. Our work to cut off funding for weapons of mass destruction is starting to pay off and we expect more financial institutions to follow suit.

October 9, 2021 Posted by | business and costs, Sweden, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Swedish government decides to increase interim storage capacity for nuclear waste

The Government has decided to allow a capacity increase of the interim
storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, pending a repository for final
disposal being constructed and put into operation. An intermediate decision
on interim storage is necessary to safeguard the energy supply in the
coming years.

The Government is prioritising and working as swiftly as
possible to prepare the decision on the repository. In the Government’s
assessment, it will be a matter of months before such a decision can be
made. However, the permit process following a government decision will take
additional time.

Without a valid permit for increased interim storage in
place before the end of 2023, Sweden’s electricity generation could be
adversely affected. This is why an intermediate decision on interim storage
is necessary.

The Government is examining how spent nuclear fuel and other
nuclear waste will be disposed of. In the next step, the Government will
refer the evaluation of new research on the protective capability of the
copper canister in relation to both copper corrosion and the planned cast
iron insert to the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority and the Swedish
National Council for Nuclear Waste.

In the consultation process, the
Government wants these authorities to determine whether the article on
copper corrosion and the research to which the article refers provide new
information that may be of significance to the Government’s decision on
the case.

 Swedish Government 27th Aug 2021

https://www.government.se/press-releases/2021/08/decision-on-increased-interim-storage-for-spent-nuclear-fuel/

August 30, 2021 Posted by | Sweden, wastes | Leave a comment

Sweden’s nuclear waste problem may mean closure of 5 reactors by 2028

Five Swedish reactors risk closure by 2028 due to tardy nuclear waste decision,  Reuters, 6 May 21Five Swedish nuclear reactors may need to close between 2024 and 2028 because a temporary site for storing spent fuel will soon be full and the government has yet to approve a final waste repository, their operating companies said on Wednesday.

The Forsmark 4 reactor risks closure in 2024, followed in 2025 by Forsmark 3, Ringhals 3 and 4 and finally Forsmark 1 in 2028, the operators said in urgent market messages posted via power exchange Nord Pool.Ringhals is owned by a consortium comprising Vattenfall (VATN.UL) and Uniper (UN01.DE), while Forsmark is owned by the same two companies in addition to Fortum (FORTUM.HE) and Skelleftea Kraft.A Swedish government decision on used nuclear fuel storage must be made no later than Aug. 31 this year to avoid exceeding the permit for the interim storage site a Oskarshamn, the firms added……..  https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/five-swedish-reactors-risk-closure-by-2028-due-tardy-nuclear-waste-decision-2021-05-05/

May 6, 2021 Posted by | Sweden, wastes | Leave a comment

Swedish council votes in favour of nuclear waste disposal facility

Swedish council votes in favour of nuclear waste disposal facility, Energy Live, 19 Oct 20, The final decision now lies with the Swedish Government and is the last remaining decision point for developer SKB to obtain the construction licence for the repository in Forsmark.
The Municipality Council of Östhammar in Sweden has voted in favour of plans to build a geological disposal facility (GDF) for spent nuclear fuel. ……
The final decision now lies with the Swedish Government and is the last remaining decision point for SKB to obtain the construction licence for the repository in Forsmark…….. https://www.energylivenews.com/2020/10/19/swedish-council-votes-in-favour-of-nuclear-waste-disposal-facility/

October 20, 2020 Posted by | Sweden, wastes | Leave a comment

Sweden gets a new Nuclear Emergency Plan

Nuclear Engineering International 22d May 2020, Sweden’s Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) announced this week, that inaccordance with an SSM proposal, the government had decided on new emergency zones for operations with ionising radiation.

For Swedish nuclear power plants, this means an internal and an external emergency zone as well
as a planning zone with an approximate extent of 5, 25 and 100 kilometres
respectively. “The change is important in order to improve the
possibility of implementing effective protective measures in connection
with a nuclear accident,” SSM said.

In 2017, SSM, in collaboration with the Swedish Agency for Social Protection and Emergency Preparedness, the County Administrative Boards in Uppsala, Kalmar, Hallands, Södermanland,
Västmanland and Skåne and the municipality of Lund and the Rescue
Services South, reported an assignment to the government where the agency
proposed to make emergency preparedness zones.

The Government has now
decided on a new regulation (2003: 789) on accident prevention, which means
that the emergency zones for nuclear facilities are being redone, in
accordance with that proposal. In the zones, iodine tablets should be
pre-distributed, the population should be able to be alerted quickly and
there must be a planning for evacuation and indoor stay. Evacuation of the
internal emergency zone must be prioritised over evacuation of the external
emergency zone.

A planning zone will also be introduced where there will be
a planning for evacuation based on radiation from the ground cover
radiation, a planning for indoor living and a planning for limited extra
distribution of iodine tablets. “This means, when the emergency zones are
fully implemented, that Sweden meets international requirements for
emergency preparedness for these operations, while lessons learned from the
nuclear accident in Fukushima have been taken care of, said SSM specialist
Jan Johansson.

https://www.neimagazine.com/news/newsnew-emergency-zones-for-swedish-nuclear-power-plants-7936755

May 26, 2020 Posted by | safety, Sweden | Leave a comment

Sweden’s wind power on the way to putting nuclear out of business

Giant Wind Park Starting Up Is Another Blow to Nuclear Industry

A surge in renewable energy output in the Nordic region has sent power prices below the level where some nuclear plants are profitable. Bloomberg Green, By Lars Paulsson April 8, 2020, Sweden’s biggest wind farm began producing power this month, and the region’s nuclear reactors are feeling the heat.Vasa Vind AB’s Askalen started commercial output on April 1, increasing supplies in a market already bloated by a massive surplus of water for power generation. A day later, two units at Vattenfall AB’s Forsmark nuclear plant north of Stockholm curbed output by about 50%. Two reactors at the utility’s Ringhals plant are halted because of low power prices.

While there’s no direct link between those events, it’s the latest sign of how renewable energy is crowding out traditional power sources across Europe. The 288-megawatt facility in northern Sweden will boost the nation’s wind output further, after a 50% jump in the first quarter from a year earlier because of a very breezy winter.

“This could mean more frequent periods with rock bottom power prices, forcing conventional generators off the grid, especially when windy conditions coincide with high hydro output,” said Oliver Metcalfe, lead analyst for onshore wind research at BloombergNEF in London.

BNEF forecasts that global onshore wind capacity will gain 9% to more than 66 gigawatts this year, a forecast scaled back from the 24% expansion first anticipated.

That will help push out more traditional coal, gas and nuclear plants from the energy system. The German and U.K. coal power industries, among others, have already been decimated by a surge in green power.

Sweden will install more than 4.2 gigawatts of new onshore wind this year and next, according to BNEF. The Nordic region’s biggest economy will rely heavily on wind to replace old nuclear reactors in the future. The Askalen park has installed 80 Vestas A/S’s V136 turbines, which are as high as 112 meters……. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/giant-wind-park-starting-up-is-another-blow-to-nuclear-industry

April 9, 2020 Posted by | renewable, Sweden | Leave a comment

Sweden’s Vattenfall AB’s 44-year-old Ringhals-1 shut down, as energy prices fall

Cheap Energy Just Shut Down a Nuclear Reactor  (Bloomberg) 1 April 20, — The latest victim of the global slump in energy prices is an old Swedish nuclear reactor that will stay offline until at least the end of summer. Electricity prices in the Nordic market were plunging even before the coronavirus began to cripple economies and hurt demand worldwide. That’s because of the build-up of a huge surplus of future supply in the form of water in the r eservoirs and snow-pack in the mountains. Vattenfall AB’s 44-year-old Ringhals-1 facility will be switched off until at least the end of September, the operator said in a statement with the Nord Pool exchange. It was already down for maintenance since March 13.

Vattenfall AB’s 44-year-old Ringhals-1 facility will be switched off until at least the end of September……
As European prices slump, weighed down by lower demand and the slide in fuel and carbon costs, more plants will struggle to make enough profit. In the U.K., margins at some gas-fired plants could drop as much as 30% year-on-year if demand recovers slowly, according to Aurora Energy Research.

https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/energy-price-slump-claims-new-victim-as-swedish-reactor-shuts

April 2, 2020 Posted by | business and costs, Sweden | Leave a comment

Sweden now faces years of nuclear reactor shutdowns and waste disposal problems

Sweden prepares for a decade of nuclear decommissioning, NS Energy, By Kristina Gillin  27 Feb 2020 ,

Sweden is preparing to dismantle and demolish six large power reactors on three sites over the coming years.

By the end of 2020, half of Sweden’s nuclear reactors will have been permanently shut down for decommissioning. The six large reactors are expected to undergo nuclear decommissioning in Sweden over the next decade.

Besides these, the Ågesta prototype reactor, a combined heat and power plant is about to commence dismantling.

Nuclear decommissioning at Sweden’s Barsebäck nuclear power plant

The twin units at Barsebäck,  a few miles across the straight from Denmark, ceased to generate power in 1999 and 2005, respectively.

After shutdown, all spent fuel was removed and shipped to Sweden’s central interim storage facility (Clab) in Oskarshamn. Major decontamination of systems was also done early. However, dismantling had to wait, due to a lack of facilities for storage or disposal of decommissioning waste………

Funding and nuclear waste disposal in Sweden

Owners of nuclear power plants in Sweden have a statutory duty to dispose of their wastes. They are also required to set aside funding for waste management and nuclear decommissioning in Sweden. The funding is held in the Nuclear Waste Fund, a segregated Swedish government fund.

To fulfil the obligations, they jointly own the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co (SKB). SKB’s scope covers disposal of most radioactive waste streams, interim storage of spent fuel and transportation between the various sites.

SKB is also responsible for compiling cost estimates for decommissioning and waste management every three years.

This to ensure that payments into the Nuclear Waste Fund are sufficient to cover future costs.

According to the 2019 estimates, the total cost of waste disposal, spent fuel storage and decommissioning is approximately SEK 147 billion (around €14 billion). Of this, about SEK 53 billion (around €5 billion) has been spent to date.

These figures include most of SKB’s scope but exclude the costs of near-surface disposal facilities for very low-level waste at Oskarshamn, Ringhals and Forsmark.

The majority of low- and intermediate-level waste from all Swedish reactors will be disposed of in SFR, a shallow geological repository for short-lived waste on the Forsmark nuclear site.

SFR has been in operation since 1988 but is currently licensed for operational waste only. To accommodate decommissioning waste, SKB plans to expand SFR’s capacity from 63,000 to 180,000 m3. An application for the expansion was submitted in 2014.

Pending regulatory approvals, construction of the new rock vaults will take place from 2023 to 2029. https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/news/nuclear-decommissioning-sweden/?fbclid=IwAR1me9D6hKLIPYP8Hp9tRS7Fgt6ksTbZ9t0Gvpo8IHCHgjIkeBqRnDgO79

March 2, 2020 Posted by | decommission reactor, Sweden | Leave a comment

Swedish Parliament Rejects Proposal to Halt Nuclear Shutdown

Swedish Parliament Rejects Proposal to Halt Nuclear Shutdown, Bloomberg,  By Niclas Rolander, January 23, 2020,

A majority in the Swedish parliament rejected a proposal from the nationalist Sweden Democrats to stop Vattenfall AB’s plans to close two nuclear reactors, in a victory for the Social Democrat-led government.

The Sweden Democrats had support from three parties but failed to secure a majority. Its proposal to give the state-owned utility instructions to reverse its plans to wind down the Ringhals 1 reactor and to restart another reactor that was shuttered Dec. 30 lost by a single vote on Wednesday afternoon.

Vattenfall has repeatedly said it isn’t economically viable to keep running the two reactors, which were commissioned in 1975 and 1976, respectively. The company also operates two newer reactors at the plant, which produces a sixth of Sweden’s electricity, and is owned jointly with Germany’s Uniper SE, which holds a 29.6% stake through a subsidiary. ……. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-22/swedish-parliament-rejects-proposal-to-halt-nuclear-shutdown

January 23, 2020 Posted by | politics, Sweden | Leave a comment

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