Westinghouse Lands Ringhals Reactor Dismantling Contract

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--A contract worth in the region of $100 million to dismantle the reactors at the Ringhals nuclear power plant in Sweden has been awarded to Westinghouse Electric Corporation LLC (Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania) by energy major Vattenfall (Stockholm, Sweden).

It will involve the dismantling of reactor tanks and their internal parts as well as fuel racks in Ringhals 1 and 2 in southern Sweden. The physical work of dismantling the large radioactive components at Ringhals 1 and Ringhals 2 will start in April 2023, at the earliest, the company stated. Ringhals 1 and 2 were closed earlier than expected at the end of 2020 and 2019, respectively, due to punitive taxes. Westinghouse has a long history with the plant. Unit 1 was constructed by ASEA Atom, which today is part of Westinghouse, while Westinghouse built Ringhals 2. Aziz Dag, chief executive officer of Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB, said: "With this agreement, we close the circle with safe dismantling of the reactors."

Two other Ringhals reactors will continue to operate until the early 2040s. Sweden gets about 40% of its electricity from nuclear power and has three operational nuclear power stations, with a total of six reactors, and an additional eight reactors in different stages of decommissioning.

Work will start in the internal parts of the reactor tanks at Ringhals 1 and 2, which are the most radioactive parts, and will have to be segmented. The work will be performed with remote controlled underwater tools in order to protect from radiation. After the reactor tanks are segmented, the water will be emptied and the tank will be covered by a lid to seal in radiation. The fuel racks will be decontaminated and then cut down to manageable sizes.

"Vattenfall´s mission is to dismantle and dispose of used reactors and other components in the same way they have been operated: safely and efficiently," said Christopher Eckerberg, head of nuclear decommissioning at Vattenfall. "The agreement with Westinghouse Electric means that it is clear how the large radioactive components at Ringhals 1 and 2 shall be dismantled and this also sets the framework for other dismantling activities in the facilities."

In total, the current components weigh about 1,500 tonnes, most of which are radioactive. Highly active material such as nuclear fuel, will be removed from the facilities before dismantling starts, while the remaining material is classed as "moderate or low radioactive." The material will be segmented and packed in approved containers and stored at the Ringhals site until the final repositories are extended. Vattenfall estimates that the dismantling of Ringhals 1 and 2 will result in 340,000 tonnes of waste, of which 5-10% is radioactive. Non-radioactive materials will be reused as spare parts, recycled at the facilities as landfill, or recycled for materials.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.