E.ON to shut down two Swedish reactors 'for economic reasons'

21 October 2015


The shareholders of OKG have voted to close Oskarshamn 1 and 2 early for economic reasons. The decision is in line with the policy announced by majority shareholder E.ON this summer. However, Finnish utility Fortum, which holds a minority 45.5% stake in the two boiling water reactors, had opposed the decision.
OKG said in a statement that the closure decision is not based on safety related reasons, but rather the continuously low electricity rates together with the nuclear capacity tax on nuclear power which has been recently raised, and additional requirements on extensive investments.
It said the Oskarshamn 1 (492MW) and Oskarshamn 2 (661MW) showed "no prospects of generating financial profitability either in the short or the long term."
OKG confirmed that there will be no future investments in Oskarshamn 2, which has been undergoing an extensive modernisation programme since 2007. The reactor has not operated since June 2013 and will not be restarted.
A closure date has not been announced for Oskharshamn 1. OKG said this would be released once the schedule for the decommissioning phase has been finalised. In June, OKG said it had applied to a Swedish land and environment court for a licence to decommission the reactor, with permission expected to be granted around 2017-2019.
The third unit operated by OKG, the 1450MW Oskarshamn 3 BWR, is unaffected by the decision and is expected to operate for 60 years, until 2045.



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