Nuclear power in Europe

Forsmark nuclear power plant has been criticized by the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) for slack security after it found that an emergency cooling system vent had been shut for a year.

During a routine inspection on August 18th this year, SSM inspectors discovered that an emergency cooling vent in reactor 2 at the Forsmark nuclear plant on Sweden’s east coast had been closed since their inspection there a year earlier. (more…)

Forsmark nuclear power plant has been criticized by the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) for slack security after it found that an emergency cooling system vent had been shut for a year.

During a routine inspection on August 18th this year, SSM inspectors discovered that an emergency cooling vent in reactor 2 at the Forsmark nuclear plant on Sweden’s east coast had been closed since their inspection there a year earlier. (more…)

A little before dawn on a recent summer morning, a convoy of three large blue lorries, a handful of police cars and a bus rumbled along the dual carriageway heading north out of the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. Even if it had not been so early, the motorcade would probably not have drawn much attention. The lorries were unmarked, the bus carrying a few sleepy policemen was old and scruffy, while the lumbering shipment was big and slow enough to explain the escort and its flashing blue lights. (more…)

GREENPEACE ACTIVISTS protesting against a shipment of nuclear waste on its way to Sellafield are putting themselves at risk of death or injury, the UK nuclear security chief has warned.

Roger Brunt, the director of the government’s Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS), has accused the international anti-nuclear group of “recklessness” during attempts to board a boat carrying plutonium-contaminated waste from Sweden. (more…)

WASHINGTON — Bulgaria has sent its remaining highly enriched uranium to Russia for safeguarding from terrorist or other potential misuse.

Nearly 14 pounds of the spent fuel were received Thursday at a Russian nuclear facility, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration announced. A first shipment of 37.3 pounds of fresh uranium fuel was sent to Russia in December 2003. (more…)

STOCKHOLM, July 11 (Reuters) - A fire broke out on Friday on the roof of a turbine facility at Sweden’s Ringhals nuclear power plant but was brought under control, rescue services said.

A spokesman for the plant said there was no risk to the reactor.

“It’s … a fire on the roof of one of the turbine facilities at Ringhals 2,” said Fredrik Akesson, of the fire brigade in Varberg. “I would say it’s under control.” (more…)

Stockholm - A reactor at the Swedish nuclear plant Ringhals has been offline for a month after problems with auxiliary coolant pumps were detected during annual maintenance work, the plant said Friday. Two of the three auxiliary pumps had “insufficient capacity,” Ringhals spokesman Gosta Larsen told local media.

The maintenance work began early May and the problems were detected during the overhaul. (more…)

The latest review of Sweden’s energy policy by the International energy agency (IEA) congratulates the government for “continued outstanding progress during the last four years” but regrets that “the outlook for nuclear energy remains a major energy policy question, almost three decades after the 1980 popular vote to phase it out”. (more…)

STOCKHOLM, May 21 (Reuters) - Swedish state energy firm Vattenfall said the country’s Oskarshamn nuclear plant had received a bomb threat on Wednesday, and a source at the site said a building was sealed off after an employee was found carrying explosives.

Police said they were questioning a suspect at the Oskarshamn plant, south of Stockholm on the Baltic coast, but could not immediately confirm he was an employee of the facility. (more…)

Stockholm - Confidence in the Swedish nuclear power industry has dropped to its lowest level in 20 years in the wake of a reactor shutdown in 2006, a report said Wednesday. The autumn 2007 survey by Gothenburg University researchers suggested 39 per cent had “very great or rather great” confidence in information about energy and nuclear power issues issued by the nuclear power industry, down 10 percentage points on 2006. (more…)