Ageing management requirements in Sweden

Since the adoption of the 1997 act of parliament concerning the abolishment of nuclear power in Sweden plant lives are no longer limited until 2010 as they were following the referendum in 1980. The Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI) has therefore in its most recent general regulations from 2004 introduced requirements for plants to develop ageing management programmes which should have been in place by the end of 2005. An ageing management programme for a nuclear power plant can be viewed as a high level coordinated programme consisting of several other programmes including maintenance and inspection programmes, and as such it should be an integrated part of the quality assurance system of the plant. The goals of the programme are to ensure that there is long term management of ageing and avoidance of the unexpected. For the Swedish regulator the safety aspects and not the economic aspects of ageing management are of primary importance. But there are clear advantages to utilities if large surprises which result in unplanned outages can be avoided. (author)