Sweden’s largest nuclear reactor to be taken off-grid for repairs

Stockholm, Sweden | Xinhua | The largest nuclear reactor in Sweden will be taken off the grid for eight days due to a damaged fuel rod, Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Unit 3 at the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant in the southeast of the country will be disconnected from the grid on March 3.

One of the country’s other five nuclear reactors is also down due to repairs.

“It is unfortunate, but the damaged fuel rod has to be dealt with and it cannot wait,” Desiree Liljevall, head of communications at nuclear power operator OKG, told DN.

When the same reactor was taken off the grid for nine days last December due to a faulty generator, the price of electricity soared in Sweden, DN reported.

“If it gets cold, we will have to rely on imports,” Erik Ek, strategic operations manager at national grid operator Svenska Kraftnat, told DN about the potential implications of the scheduled stoppage.

Nuclear power accounts for approximately 30 percent of the electricity produced in Sweden, according to the Swedish Energy Agency.

Following the decommissioning of four reactors between 2017 and 2020, six reactors remain at three sites.