Change to climate goal language boosts Sweden’s nuclear prospects

July 5, 2023, 12:00PMNuclear News

Sweden’s parliament, the Riksdag, recently endorsed a proposal in the government’s spring amending budget to change the country’s 2040 climate goal of 100 percent renewable electricity production to 100 percent fossil fuel–free electricity production.

Westinghouse, Fortum to study SMRs in Finland, Sweden

June 8, 2023, 9:30AMNuclear News

Representatives of Westinghouse and Fortum sign MOUs in Helsinki, Finland, on June 7. From left are Laurent Leveugle, vice president of new nuclear at Fortum; Petra Lundström, executive vice president of nuclear generation at Fortum; Elias Gedeon, senior vice president of commercial operations at Westinghouse; and Roman Romanowski, vice president of new plant market development at Westinghouse. (Photo: Westinghouse).

Looking to add Finland and Sweden to its growing list of potential reactor customers in Europe, Westinghouse Electric Company on June 7 announced the signing of memoranda of understanding with Finnish state-owned energy company Fortum—operator of the two-unit Loviisa nuclear plant—to explore the possibilities of developing and deploying AP1000 and AP300 reactor projects in the two Nordic nations. The MOUs, according to Westinghouse, establish a framework of collaboration for detailed technical and commercial discussions.

Fortum, Helen Oy to investigate SMR potential

November 30, 2022, 12:00PMNuclear News

Finnish energy companies Fortum and Helen Oy are initiating a study to explore collaboration on nuclear power projects, with particular emphasis on small modular reactors, the firms jointly announced last week, adding the caveat that “any future decisions on cooperation and investments will be made at a later stage.”

Fortum contemplates new nuclear for Finland, Sweden

October 20, 2022, 9:41AMNuclear News

Finnish energy company Fortum has announced the launch of a two-year feasibility study to explore the potential for new nuclear construction, with a focus on Finland and neighboring Sweden. The utility said it will examine commercial, technological, and societal conditions for both conventional large reactors and small modular reactors.

Sweden to study SMRs at Ringhals

July 11, 2022, 12:00PMNuclear News
The Ringhals nuclear power plant. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Vattenfall has initiated a study to look into the feasibility of building at least two small modular reactors adjacent to its Ringhals nuclear power plant, the Swedish state-owned power company announced recently.

Located on Sweden’s west coast about 37 miles south of Gothenburg, Ringhals holds two operating power reactors: Unit 3, a 1,074-MWe pressurized water reactor; and Unit 4, a 1,130-MWe PWR. The facility is also home to two retired units: Unit 1, a boiling water reactor shut down in December 2020; and Unit 2, a PWR taken off line in December 2019.

GEH to work with Swedish firm on SMR deployment

March 24, 2022, 11:45AMNuclear News
A cutaway image of the BWRX-300. (Image: GEH)

Wilmington, N.C.–based GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kärnfull Next—a new company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Swedish firm Kärnfull Future AB—to collaborate on the deployment of GEH’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor in Sweden.

Sweden issues permits for spent fuel repository, encapsulation plant

February 2, 2022, 9:33AMRadwaste Solutions
Rendering of the Forsmark geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel in Sweden. Below ground, the repository covers three to four square kilometers at a depth of 500 meters. (Image: SKB)

The government of Sweden announced on January 27 that it has issued a permit to the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) to build a deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel at Forsmark in the municipality of Östhammar. The government also issued a permit to construct a spent fuel encapsulation plant in Oskarshamn, where the country’s inventory of spent fuel is currently being stored.

Westinghouse signs agreement to dismantle Ringhals-1 and -2 components

August 23, 2021, 7:01AMRadwaste Solutions
Vattenfall’s Christopher Eckerberg (left) and Aziz Dag of Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB sign the agreement for decommissioning of large radioactive components at Sweden’s Ringhals-1 and -2. (Photo: Vattenfall/John Guthed)

Westinghouse will segment and dispose of the reactor internals and pressure vessels at Sweden’s Ringhals-1 and Ringhals-2 under a deal announced last week with plant owner Vattenfall. Unit 2, a pressurized water reactor, and Unit 1, a boiling water reactor, were shut down in 2019 and 2020, respectively, after operating for more than 40 years.