Sweden is considering building new small nuclear reactors
STOCKHOLM, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) — Sweden’s state energy company Vattenfall is investigating the possibility of installing new small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) at the site of an existing nuclear power plant to secure power supplies, Aftonbladet newspaper reported Wednesday.
Vattenfall, majority owner of Ringhal’s nuclear power plant in the southwest of the country, has notified grid operator Svenska Kraftnat that it intends to install 2,800 megawatts on top of Ringhal’s current output of 2,190 megawatts and to connect the first new reactor to the grid in 2032, the paper reported.
A Vattenfall spokesperson told Sweden’s Television (SVT) last November that “large-scale nuclear power is not feasible today” and Aftonbladet reported that the utility may instead aim to build several SMRs, each with an output of between 300 and 400 megawatts .
Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari told Aftonbladet that although smaller reactors may not offer the same economies of scale, they have other advantages, such as “they are said to be cheaper and faster to build”.
“2032 is very ambitious, but it is important that (the construction) takes place as quickly as possible,” says Pourmokhtari to Aftonbladet.
Nuclear power accounts for approximately 30 percent of the electricity produced in Sweden, according to the Radiation Safety Authority.
Following the decommissioning of four reactors between 2017 and 2020, six reactors currently remain at three sites, according to the agency.
Partly as a result of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, electricity prices in Sweden reached unprecedented levels in 2022, contributing to rampant inflation in the country.
Ahead of last September’s election, the bloc that eventually won promised to increase energy security and lower electricity prices through policies that encourage the installation of new nuclear power plants.