Vattenfall to Replace Old Swedish Nuclear Reactors

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- Vattenfall AB (Stockholm, Sweden) has taken the first steps in assessing the possibility of replacing up to two of its older nuclear reactors in Sweden with newer ones.

The company has made a request to the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority to see if it will be able to replace older reactors that will have to be decommissioned in the next decade. Vattenfall operates seven nuclear power reactors in Sweden, four at Ringhals and three at Forsmark. The company's first two reactors, Ringhals 1 and 2, went into operation in the mid-1970s and may be the ones that Vattenfall is looking to replace when the plants are due for decommissioning after 2025. Nuclear power, which includes two Vattenfall nuclear plants in Germany, makes up just over one quarter of the company's generation portfolio.

"[The application] is part of our work collecting information in order to decide on a course of action for a possible future investment in replacement reactors," the company stated. "Several years will be needed to prepare all documentation. Only then will there be a basis for taking a position on a possible investment."

It added: "Between 2025 and 2035, Vattenfall estimates that approximately 20 TWh of nuclear power production in older reactors will be phased out in Sweden. That is a significant portion of the electricity production independent of weather, and a phase-out without a replacement power source or long-term planning, could cause pricing turbulence and uncertainty on the electricity market. Many European countries are currently in a similar situation."

The company cited the European Commission's Energy Roadmap 2050 report, in which nuclear power plays a role in all of the future energy scenarios presented.

Sweden currently gets around 50% of its electricity from nuclear power plants. The country had originally planned to phase out nuclear power generation by 2010 but in 2009, the government agreed to allow energy companies to replace older reactors. Matters progressed in 2010 when the government put forward two controversial bills that would end the country's 30-year ban on new nuclear plants. For additional information see March 29, 2010, article - Sweden's Nuclear Power U-turn Progresses.

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