Decommissioning of Barsebaeck NPP

Barsebaeck is a nuclear power plant located in southern Sweden on the west coast of Skane. Barsebaeck 1 and 2 are two BWRs with the capacity of 615 MWe each and have produced electricity since 1975/1977. According to a political decision Barsebaeck 1 was closed permanently on 30 November 1999 and Barsebaeck 2 on 31 May 2005. Barsebaeck 1 has been in the so-called Service operation since 12 December 2001, when all fuel had been transported away. Barsebaeck 2 is now in the so-called position of Defuelled core, waiting for an environmental license including a approved Environmental Impact Assessment. A strategic position has been taken concerning the future dismantling of Barsebaeck 1 and Barsebaeck 2: Service operation must be simple, safe and cost-optimised. This means placing the plant in the lowest energy mode, reducing the need for monitoring, minimising residual safety risks and optimising the costs of service operation and future dismantling. Dismantling of Barsebaeck 1 and Barsebaeck 2 will probably be carried out under a joint project. Final storage for the short-lived low- and medium-active dismantling waste, SFR-3, must be ready before dismantling begins. According to the present plan, SFR-3 will not be ready for service until 2020 at the earliest. Intermediate storage must be avoided. This leads to the present planning, which means that dismantling of Barsebaeck will not start before 2020. (author)