Vattenfall will study building small reactors in Sweden to meet demand
STOCKHOLM, June 28 (Reuters) – Swedish state-owned energy company Vattenfall said on Tuesday that it will begin a pilot study for the potential design of small nuclear power modular reactors to meet the growing demand for energy by increasing production in southern Sweden.
The study will examine the construction of two small modular reactors near the existing Ringhals nuclear power plant on the Swedish west coast south of Gothenburg, says Vattenfall.
“We will need all fossil-free energy sources to meet the growing demand for electricity in Sweden,” says Vattenfall’s CEO Anna Borg in a statement.
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“Provided that a pilot study concludes that it would be profitable and all other conditions for a future investment decision are met, in particular new regulations for nuclear power, it should be possible to have the first SMR reactor in operation in the early 2030s. “
Swedes voted in 1980 to phase out nuclear power, but attitudes have changed.
Sweden’s largest political parties concluded an agreement on nuclear power in 2016 and agreed that six existing reactors can continue to operate and that up to 10 new reactors can be built on existing sites.
Unlike in Finland, which in recent years has switched to putting new reactors online, the high costs of new full-scale plants have generally made them uneconomical unless a future government agrees to generous subsidies.
Several Swedish parties are pulling for it, but small modular reactors (SMR) require significantly less expenditure.
“No investment decisions have been made,” Borg said.
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Reporting by Stine Jacobsen and Niklas Pollard, editing by Terje Solsvik and Bernadette Baum
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