21 June 2017

Sweden Retires First Commercial Nuclear Reactor (Oskarshamn‑1)

Sweden Retires First Commercial Nuclear Reactor (Oskarshamn-1)

World Nuclear Industry Status Report (WNISR), 20 June 2017

On 17 June 2017, the oldest Swedish nuclear reactor Oskarshamn-1 (O1) generated its last kilowatthour. After an "operational disturbance" that led to an automatic shutdown, operator-owner OKG decided on 19 June 2017 to keep the unit off-line. In 2015, the owner scheduled the reactor to close on 29 June 2017 and with only ten days left to go, OKG decided, it was not worthwhile to repair and restart the almost 46-year-old plant.

Construction of Sweden’s first commercial nuclear power plant started on 1 August 1966 and grid connection was carried out on 19 August 1971. The 440 MW Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) generated a total of 110 TWh over its lifetime.

The shutdown of O1 leaves eight reactors operating in Sweden, one at Oskarshamn (O3), four at Ringhals and three at Forsmark. Ringhals-2 is scheduled to shut down in 2019, with Ringhals-1 to follow in 2020.

With the recent closure of South Korea’s oldest unit, WNISR considers a total of 407 reactors currently operating in the world, while 34 units are in Long-Term Outage (LTO).