Five Swedish nuclear power units could be decommissioned between 2024 and 2028 as the Clab temporary radioactive waste disposal facility is almost full and as the Swedish authorities have not yet green lighted the expansion of nuclear waste repositories. Consequently, the 1,120 MW Forsmark 2 reactor (operated by Vattenfall) may have to close in 2024, followed by 1,170 MW Forsmark 3 (Vattenfall), 1,070 MW Ringhals 3 and 1,106 MW Ringhals 4 (both operated by Vattenfall and Uniper) in 2025 and finally 984 MW Forsmark 1 (Vattenfall) in 2028.
The 8,000 t Clab temporary storage, operated by SKB in Oskarhamn, is almost full (7,300 t) and is seeking to expand its capacity to 11,000 t. The Swedish government must make a decision on the expansion by the end of August 2021, when the permit for the interim storage site may be exceeded. In addition, the government must also decide on a final waste repository at Forsmark, which has already received approval from relevant stakeholders.
In 2020, nuclear accounted for 30% of Sweden’s power mix.