Sweden closes nuclear reactor after over 40 yrs of operation

Sweden has shut down one of four nuclear reactors at its largest power station after over 40 years of operation, with operators citing a lack of profitability.

Swedish news ncy TT said Ringhals 2 reactor in southwestern Sweden was permanently shut down Monday morning in accordance with a 2015 decision by its owners — Swedish energy group Vattenfall and German utility Uniper.

Ringhals power station, located some 65 kilometers (40 miles) south of Sweden’s second-largest city of Goteborg, is one of Sweden’s three nuclear power plants and has so far generated 15%-20% of rdic country’s total electricity consumption.

Vattenfall says on its webp that Ringhals is biggest power station in entire rdic region.

“It’s clear that re’s a bit of a s feeling at moment,” Lars Bjornkvist, project manr for Ringhals 2 closure, told TT. pressurized water reactor was provided by Westinghouse Electric Corp. in 1970 and started commercial operation in 1975.

Vattenfall and Uniper have decided to also shut down Ringhals 1 reactor at end of 2020, while Ringhals 3 and Ringhals 4 are due to keep running until 2040s.

Work to man rioactive waste at Ringhals 1 is due to get underway immediately, and Ringhals 1 and 2 reactors will be torn down by end of 2022. entire decommissioning process is to take at least eight years, TT reported.

Following closure of Ringhals 1, Sweden has a total of seven reactors at three nuclear plants across country: three reactors at Forsmark plant rth of Stockholm, one reactor at Oskarshamn plant in souastern Sweden and three at Ringhals.

y generate about 40 percent of electricity in Sweden, a nation of 10 million people.