Oskarshamn Nuclear Power Plant
Encyclopedia
The Nuclear power
station Oskarshamn is one of three active nuclear power stations in Sweden. The plant is about 30 kilometers north of Oskarshamn
directly at the Kalmarsund at the Baltic Sea
coast and with three reactors producing about 10% of the electricity needs of Sweden. All reactors use BWR
technology.
Unit 1 has an installed output of 487 MW, Unit 2 627 MW, and Unit 3, the newest reactor block at the facility, has an installed output of 1,194 MW. The nuclear power station Oskarshamn is thereby one of the largest power stations in the Nordic area by production.
Clab
, the temporary storage facility for spent nuclear fuel
from all Swedish reactors, is also located at the site.
, short for the Oskarshamnsverkets Kraftgrupp OKG, which was acquired by Sydkraft
in 1993, which is called E.ON Sverige currently. E.ON Sverige owns 54.5% and the other partner Fortum
45.5% of OKG.
On May 21, 2008, according to the Norwegian newspaper article in Aftenposten, the Swedish Aftonbladet and the Swedish The Local paper, a welder was caught on the entrance security check with trace elements of explosives on a carrier bag and his hand. The same evening Reactor 1 of the facility was shut down to allow bomb teams to sweep the facility. With police investigations ongoing, Kalmar police spokesperson Sven-Erik Karlsson confirmed to the TT news agency that a welder on his way in to the plant on Wednesday morning was caught with a relatively small amount of a highly explosive substance. The substance was later shown to be from nail polish and the event had no relevance to the operation of the plant or nuclear safety.
Both Unit 2 and 3 are currently undergoing power and security upgrades. Unit 3 is planned to become the most powerful BWR in the world at approximately 1450MWe. The maximal reached output so far is 1260 MWe. Due to the upgrade, the reactor has been on and off the grid with prolonged maintenance outages throughout 2010. Unit 2 will be upgraded in several steps and will reach maximum capacity of thermal power 2,300 MW and 840 MWe in 2011.
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
station Oskarshamn is one of three active nuclear power stations in Sweden. The plant is about 30 kilometers north of Oskarshamn
Oskarshamn
Oskarshamn is a coastal city and the seat of Oskarshamn Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 17,258 inhabitants in 2010.-History:The location of Oskarshamn was known as Döderhultsvik since the Medieval age...
directly at the Kalmarsund at the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
coast and with three reactors producing about 10% of the electricity needs of Sweden. All reactors use BWR
Boiling water reactor
The boiling water reactor is a type of light water nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical power. It is the second most common type of electricity-generating nuclear reactor after the pressurized water reactor , also a type of light water nuclear reactor...
technology.
Unit 1 has an installed output of 487 MW, Unit 2 627 MW, and Unit 3, the newest reactor block at the facility, has an installed output of 1,194 MW. The nuclear power station Oskarshamn is thereby one of the largest power stations in the Nordic area by production.
Clab
Clab
Clab, Centralt mellanlager för använt kärnbränsle is located in proximity to Oskarshamn Nuclear Power Plant, owned by Oskarshamnsverkets Kraftgrupp AB , in Oskarshamn. It was opened in 1985 for the storage of spent nuclear fuel from all Swedish nuclear power plants...
, the temporary storage facility for spent nuclear fuel
Spent nuclear fuel
Spent nuclear fuel, occasionally called used nuclear fuel, is nuclear fuel that has been irradiated in a nuclear reactor...
from all Swedish reactors, is also located at the site.
Operator
The responsible utility is OKGOKG
OKG AB is a Swedish corporation who owns and operates the Oskarshamn Nuclear Power Plant. It is part of the E.ON group....
, short for the Oskarshamnsverkets Kraftgrupp OKG, which was acquired by Sydkraft
Sydkraft
E.ON Sverige AB, formerly known as Sydkraft, is Sweden's second largest utility company with an annual turnover of 42.9 billion Swedish Krona . The net profit for the 2008 fiscal year amounted to SEK 14.88 billion...
in 1993, which is called E.ON Sverige currently. E.ON Sverige owns 54.5% and the other partner Fortum
Fortum
Fortum Oyj is a Finnish publicly listed energy company, which focuses on the Nordic and Baltic countries, Poland and the north-west of Russia. After acquisition of Russian energy company TGC-10 in year 2008, Western Siberia has become an important operating area for Fortum. The head of the company...
45.5% of OKG.
History
On July 25, 2006, Units 1 and 2 were shut down as a precaution after a safety-related incident at an identical reactor at the Forsmark nuclear power plant. The incident related to a failure of diesel generators to automatically start up when required. Modifications were later made to all the plants to address the issue.On May 21, 2008, according to the Norwegian newspaper article in Aftenposten, the Swedish Aftonbladet and the Swedish The Local paper, a welder was caught on the entrance security check with trace elements of explosives on a carrier bag and his hand. The same evening Reactor 1 of the facility was shut down to allow bomb teams to sweep the facility. With police investigations ongoing, Kalmar police spokesperson Sven-Erik Karlsson confirmed to the TT news agency that a welder on his way in to the plant on Wednesday morning was caught with a relatively small amount of a highly explosive substance. The substance was later shown to be from nail polish and the event had no relevance to the operation of the plant or nuclear safety.
Both Unit 2 and 3 are currently undergoing power and security upgrades. Unit 3 is planned to become the most powerful BWR in the world at approximately 1450MWe. The maximal reached output so far is 1260 MWe. Due to the upgrade, the reactor has been on and off the grid with prolonged maintenance outages throughout 2010. Unit 2 will be upgraded in several steps and will reach maximum capacity of thermal power 2,300 MW and 840 MWe in 2011.