Swedish nuclear reactors risk closure due to waste storage issues

Five nuclear reactors in Sweden are facing potential closure between 2024 and 2028 because a temporary waste storage site is reaching full capacity and the government has still yet to give its approval to a final repository, the companies operating the plants have said.

The reactor operators posted an urgent message via power exchange Nord Pool which said that Forsmark 4 reactor faces potential closure in 2024, followed by Forsmark 3 and Ringhals 3 and 4 the next year, with Forsmark 1 in 2028.

Ringhals is owned by a consortium comprised of Vattenfall and Uniper, while Forsmark is owned by the same two companies as well as Fortum and Skelleftea Kraft.

The companies added that the government in Stockholm must make a decision on where to store nuclear waste by the end of August this year in order to avoid exceeding the storage allowance at the temporary site in Oskarshamn.

Also read: Cavendish to head robotics project for sorting nuclear waste

The temporary site, known as Clab, has been looking to expand its storage capacity from 8,000 tonnes to 11,000 tonnes, operator SKB has said. Clab is presently holding 7,300 tonnes of nuclear waste.

A planned final repository at Forsmark for the waste has received approval from the relevant stakeholders, operator Vattenfall has said.

"We have ongoing contact with government representatives, but a decision before the end of August this year is necessary in order not to endanger electricity production at our nuclear production units," Vattenfall said in a statement to Reuters.

The decision on the repository was described by Environment Minister Per Bolund as "one of the biggest environmental questions ever in Sweden".

Bolund told Reuters that the issue was a high priority but there was a chance the process would not be completed before Clab reaches full capacity.

"We are therefore looking at the possibility of deciding on the Clab interim facility separately from the repository in order to avoid a situation where there is no storage capacity in Sweden," he said.

Official data showed that in 2020, around 30% of Sweden's energy capacity came from nuclear plants, which are all located in the country's south.

The Ringhals 1 reactor closed at the end of last year, while the country's remaining six reactors could be producing power until the early 2040s.

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