Operating experience from Swedish nuclear power plants, 2000

From a safety point of view, 2000 was - as were previous years - satisfactory. Total electricity production from the Swedish nuclear power stations amounted to 54.2 TWh, which was over 20% less than the 70.2 TWh produced in 1999. The two main reasons for the reduction were the closure of Barsebaeck 1 on 1st December 1999, and the cutback in output from all reactors due to the particularly good availability of hydro power in 2000. Some reactors were even shut down completely as a result of the low power demand, which has not happened previously. The quantity of unutilised production capacity as a result of these reductions amounted to 11.6 TWh. Costdown operation prior to the annual overhaul shutdowns, which makes better use of the fuel, represented a further 2.1 TWh of unutilised capacity. The average energy availability of the three PWRs at Ringhals was 82.0%, while that of the eight BWRs was 84.2%. Forsmark 3, Ringhals 3 and Oskarshamn 3 all had average availabilities of over 90%. Of five events with safety implications that occurred in the plants during the year, three are described under Special Reporting. One of them relates to the crack indications in welds that were found in an American PWR in the autumn, and which were subsequently also found in Ringhals 4