Everything about Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant totally explained
Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant is a
nuclear power plant in
Forsmark,
Sweden, and also the site of the Swedish Final repository for radioactive operational waste. It is operated by a subsidiary of
Vattenfall.
Reactors
Forsmark NPP has three
Boiling water reactors:
- Unit 1 (968 net MWe) was first connected to the grid on 5 June, 1980, and commenced commercial operation on 10 December, 1980. It has two turbo-alternators.
- Unit 2 (964 net MWe) was first grid connected on 15 December, 1980 and commenced commercial operation on 7 July, 1981. It is a twin of Unit 1.
- Unit 3 (1,155 net MWe) was first grid connected on 3 March, 1985 and commenced commercial operation on 21 August, 1985. It is a later design with one turbo-alternator.
Waste disposal
Forsmark is the proposed site for the long-term burial of all spent fuel from Swedish nuclear power reactors, using the
KBS-3 process. The new site will be located next to the already existing final repository for radioactive operational waste, but the two won't be connected with each other.
April 1986
On April 27, 1986, unusually high levels of radiation were detected in workers' clothing at this plant, prompting concerns of a radiation leak. No leak was found, however, and the radiation was subsequently determined to have originated from
Chernobyl, where a reactor had exploded the previous day. Chernobyl is approximately 1,100 km from this power plant.
July 2006 incident
On
25 July 2006, one reactor was shut down after an electrical fault.
According to the
Swedish Nuclear Power Inspection authority
SKI the incident was rated 2 on the
International Nuclear Event Scale. According to Lars-Olov Höglund, a former construction chief at Vattenfall, it's the most serious nuclear incident in the world since the
Chernobyl disaster and it was pure luck that prevented a
meltdown.
Both the SKI and the safety chief of Forsmark power plant disagree with that opinion and state that the incident was serious but the description provided by Höglund was incorrect and there was no risk of a meltdown.
Lars-Olov Höglund has been involved in a personal legal dispute with Forsmark Nuclear powerplant for several years.
However, SKI also writes about the failing safety system in that finding out that safety functions proved to be linked together in a delicate way is extremely serious.
February 2007 shutdown
On February 3, two units at Forsmark were shut down to inspect a rubber seal in one of the safety systems. On Forsmark 1 this seal needs to be replaced, a job that will take approximately one month. Unit 2 was cleared by the regulator SKI and is free to restart.
In January an internal report made by a few employees at Forsmark who were concerned over a "degrading safety culture" was leaked to media who ran an extensive story on it. In the storm following the report the Forsmark CEO chose to resign. Forsmark was already under way to implement a 60-point program designed to improve safety culture, designed shortly after the event in July 2006.
Further Information
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