Who are the Swedish antinukes?

Reflections after seeing a documentary at Roxy cinema, Örebro, Sweden
1 March, 2009

I had this event in my calender for 2 weeks ago already. The film "I have Cesium in my blood" ("Jag har cesium i blodet") by Swedish journalist and documentalist living in Brasil, Lars Westman. After the film, a discussion on nuclear waste permanent storage was announced, with my colleagues at Örebro university participating at the panel. Announcement below.



The film itself was impressive - just as the picture on the announcement. It was about a case that took place in Brasilian town Goiania in 1987 where a radioactive container from an old hospital was occasionally thrown away and found by local people who desided to dismantle it and sell as valuable metals. The case is described here.

For sure, there were a lot of personal stories, broken human lives and awful pictures of people damaged by radiation.
And after 1 hour of watching this, all the spectators were invited to the cellar of the cinema hall, where they arranged a discussion with the producer of the film Lars Westman and a few other people (among them my colleague Mats Eriksson who did a research on media images of nuclear power, and Andreas Oberstedt who teaches a course in nuclear physics at our university).

Just from the very beginning I noticed a few people in the hall who had a yellow mark on their coats... Like this (Says "Atomic power? No, thanks!):



By the time the discussion was about to start, I found myself in a room full of antinukes. It looked like they all knew each other, were very well organized, distributed leaflets and some environmental newspapers.
In some of my previous notes I was wandering why is this country so openly antinuclear when it comes to public opinion. There should be people around who write these poorly argumented articles against the development of nuclear technology, pointing back at Chernobyl and extreme cases like Brazilian one.
Now, here they are.



Not to offend anyone, but I felt like watching a POLITBURO session of Brezhnev times. Average age of the audience was around 50-60, some were much older. There were a couple of young faces (students, I suppose), and some middle age people who did not seem to be very active.

So, what did we discuss then? First, the panel spoke, and Anders Oberstedt said a key thing in the debate. He said: "All your fears come from your ignorance", meaning people who are openly against nuclear power, do not have enough information about it. An, inspite of him giving a reasonable explanation of his pro-nuclear position, showing factual information in form of graphs and figures on climate change... this audience started throwing questions and comments against him.
"Aren't you oversimplifying the reality with showing just this CO2 emission graph?" - cried an agressive guy who could well be my grandpas father. The rest applaused.
"How can I be informed and not ignorant if the papers do not publish much on this?" - said one lady. (When I commented back to her that there is enough info on the web, in case she is interested, she replied she was not a computer user).
The debate that was supposed to be about the film landed into a pro and antinuke antagonism. To the honour of Mr. Oberstedt, he could well defend his position, with reasonable argumentation. I am not sure if any of the people in the hall went away persuaded (such people as a rule are not that flexible), but status quo remained.
I agree that these people are not informed and educated well enough to see the scale of the energy challenge that their country faces. And I am not surprized that Swedish government does not have an open debate on issues like removing the ban for new reactor construction in Sweden. After years of antinuclear propaganda, it's not that easy to persuade the people who get all the information from TV and papers, and are not even willing to study and think themselves. They are too much used to the fact that someone thinks for them.
Anyway. There was no fighting this evening at the cinema cellar, the discussion was very fruitful from the point that various opinions met. As one young guy said correctly, this debate has to move from the small room to the place where many more can participate - to internet fora.

A Saturday morning article. Nuclear VS wind power in Sweden

Recently we discussed Sweden's turn to nuclear power - decision to build new reactors after the old ones a phased outs, which we nuclear bloggers and many other reasonable people around the world saw as a wise and rational step for Sweden on path to its energy security.

However, living in Swedish province and reading local papers, one can notice that the Swedes themselves are far from accepting nuclear as a sourse of energy. Yesterday, for example I got fresh ETC Örebro, a paper where anyone can express opinion, that is considered "alternative". And there I found a whole bunch of articles where various private people advocate wind power, expressing an open anti-nuclear attitude. Even blaming the state and big companies for disregarding wind as an option, polluting our green Sweden with nuclear waste that we do not know what to do with, and other arguments like that.

I live in Sweden for more then 4 years now in total, and I'm not surprized to hear this. Swedes, once they believed in one propaganda, do not change their mind easily. They will debate and prove in front of everyone that this is what they think (just because someone managed to put it into their minds on an axyomatic level).

"Environmentalists" can be proud with their PR results in this country - more then the USSR can be proud of communism propaganda. People in Sweden are even less free to choose their opinion - they cannot doubt things that seem fundamental for them at a certain time.

"We mind our environment, and this is why we will never let dirty nuclear power plants to be built in this country." That's the basic statement I hear. Then, when I ask "WHY?", a surprized pause follows, and they continue remembering Chernobyl (which they know surprizingly little about), TMI, consequences of uranium mining etc. - a complete antinuclear PR pack at the most primitive level. This is what you hear from the man in Sweden in street. Once you say you are pronuclear, you feel like "people's enemy". Because you are an outsider - "not like us".

I desided to do a small calculation. One average large wind power device produces about 68 000 kWt per year (at wind speed not below 8 m per second). This is about 7.76 kWt per hour. Then I went to Ignalina NPP website that has good statistics on hourly output. Ignalina-2 only RBMK-1500 (izwini, Aladar, for using just this reactor - I just had quick access to these figures :=))) for 14.02.2009 produces 1326,55 MWt per hour. This is correspondent to an hourly output of about 1 500 wind agregates (Up to 1 MWt, at wind speed 8m/s, on condition that the wind is constantly blowing). Spectacular, huh?

No doubt, wind agregate could be a solution for a small farm in a windy place on some island like Gotland where it always blows, at least 3m/s. Especially if that farm is far away from any other electricity connection. Sweden has a lot of scattered places like that, especially in the upper North. But once there is a need of supplying industry - like the one Sweden has - and coping with a growing demand for electricity in cities, a safe modern nuclear plant is certainly a better and more reliable solution.

Or, maybe, Swedes would like to be the first to fulfill the Obama-like plan and go over to renewables completely by 2015? This country is already loosing a lot of jobs. Life here is hell expensive compared even to countries like Germany, I am not talking about Ukraine and ex-USSR which I am more familiar with. Business is moving away. Domestic population is ageing and dying out, while more "fruitful", active and believing Iraqis, Iranians and Somalis are replacing them.

IMHO Swedish society needs a challenge to wake up from being naive children, looking at the world through pink eyeglasses. Energy challenge is already there. But these people also need to learn how to survive without the caring state that thinks for them, pays their bills and tells them what to do. These people need to come out of their greenhouse.

Vattenfall Welcomes Swedish Government's Decision on Energy Policy

Swedish power utility Vattenfall has welcomed the Swedish government's proposed agreement on energy policy, saying that Sweden needs a long-term, widely supported energy policy that incorporates responsibility for climate change issues.
Lars Josefsson, Vattenfall's CEO, said: "It is good that the energy policy is becoming more focused on achieving clear targets and more neutral about the technology required to do so. Vattenfall will contribute to realizing the ambitious targets for climate policy and renewable energy production, which are in line with Vattenfall's strategy.
"Vattenfall is investing billions of Swedish kronor in wind power and other renewable energy sources, and we welcome the fact that the processing of permits for building wind power units is being speeded up. This makes it easier for us to carry out our plan of building units providing 8TWh of wind power in Sweden by 2016."
Vattenfall's CEO has also said that the company is interested in building new nuclear power plants, provided that there is demand for this and it is profitable. He said that the company is also investing in maintaining and modernizing existing plants, and they are expected to continue to be competitive in the future.

(Source: Energy Central)

Swedish nuclear plant posted cleaners as guards

Managers of an atomic power plant in Sweden used janitors to guard the facility when the alarm system was malfunctioning, according to a critical report Thursday from the country's nuclear watchdog.

In a statement on its Web site, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority called the incident at the Oskarshamn plant serious because the workers had no training as security guards.

In early October, managers deployed 20-25 cleaning and maintenance staff to help guard parts of the plant's perimeter, the statement said.

The workers worked in shifts for about a week and were instructed to alert security if an outer fence was being breached, because motion sensors in parts of the newly installed alarm system were not working. The surveillance cameras and other security equipment still worked.

"OKG's decision to use non-security-educated personnel violates the company's internal routines. It is particularly serious since the routine deviation has been going on for a long time," the authority said in its report.

It also criticized the plant for not documenting the decision properly, and said the incident "could be a sign of inadequate safety culture regarding the attitude to physical protection."

In a separate statement, Oskarshamn said it had taken the criticism to heart, and said it had based the decision on the fact that the inner security fences had been intact, equipped with the necessary alarm and surveillance equipment.

The Oskarshamn plant is located 210 miles (340 kilometers) south of Stockholm. It has three reactors and provides around 10 percent of Sweden's electricity.

(Source: AP)

Two Swedish reactors offline over control rod checks

Two of Sweden's 10 nuclear reactors were to be offline for at least a month as checks continued on the control rods used to control the nuclear fission process, officials said Monday. The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority last week ordered operators to check the control rods after cracks were detected in the control rods at one of the three reactors at the Oskarhamn nuclear plant, south-eastern Sweden.

Reactor Number 3 at the Oskarshamn plant was due to be back online December 3, Oskarhamn, spokeswoman Annika Carlsson told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The other two reactors at Oskarshamn were operating normally since they had a different design, she said.

The plant is operated by energy groups E.ON of Germany and Finland's Fortum.

At Forsmark, north of Stockholm one of the three reactors that has the same design as Oskarhmamn 3 has also been offline since last week.

Officials at Forsmark said the reactor was likely to be offline until end of November. Forsmark is majority-owned by state-controlled energy group Vattenfall.

Sweden has operated 12 nuclear reactors at most. Two at the Barseback plant in southern Sweden have been decommissioned, the most recent in May 2005.

(Source: The Earth Times)

Suspects in Swedish E.ON nuclear plant sabotage probe released - police

OSKARSHAMN, Sweden (Thomson Financial) - Two contractors suspected of planning to sabotage a nuclear power plant partly owned by E.ON AG in southern Sweden using explosives have been released from custody, police said on Thursday.

'After completing the interrogations with the detained, the prosecutor has today decided to release them, but the suspicions remain,' Sven-Erik Karlsson of the Kalmar county police told reporters in Oskarshamn, where the plant is located.

The two Swedes were arrested on Wednesday after a routine security control at the entrance to the plant detected traces of highly explosive material on the handle of a plastic bag one of the men was carrying.

The men, who according to police were born in 1955 and 1964, had been working for several weeks as welders on one of the plant's three reactors, which had been shut down for maintenance.

A search of that reactor, called reactor two, turned up no explosives or other suspicious material, police said, adding that a second reactor was also being shut down to be searched.

'Both deny any wrongdoing. They have no explanation whatsoever for what has happened,' Karlsson said, adding one of the men had a criminal record, but only for petty crimes.

The explosive material detected was believed to be TATP, which is relatively easy to make and has surfaced in a number of recent terrorism investigations, including bombings in the Middle East and the London bombings in July 2005.

The men's homes in the town of Norrkoeping, some 180 kilometres (110 miles) north of Oskarshamn, as well as their temporary lodgings near the nuclear plant had been searched, but nothing linked to the suspected sabotage plans had been discovered, Karlsson said.

The plastic bag that set off the alarm only contained toiletries, police said, adding that both the bag and its contents had been sent to a national forensics lab for analysis.

The company that runs the plant, OKG, meanwhile tried to defuse speculation that its explosive detection equipment made a mistake.

'When the welder was stopped because the equipment indicated something on his plastic bag, further tests were done,' OKG spokesman Anders Oesterberg said in a statement, adding 'there was no doubt' there was an illegal substance on the bag.

While the two other reactors at the plant remained up and running all day Wednesday, OKG said Thursday morning it was shutting down the one closest to the reactor the men worked on, so it too could be searched.

'When you have access to unit number two you also have some formal access to some areas of unit number one,' OKG spokesman Roger Bergman told AFP.

'Even though we haven't detected any movement from these two people inside this unit number one we still want to make sure that they haven't been there,' he added.

Bergman said the shutdown was expected to cost around five million kronor (550,000 euros, 850,00 dollars) a day.

'We don't know yet how long the reactor will be stopped. It depends on the police investigation,' he said, adding that the third reactor would remain up and running.

The three boiling water reactors at the Oskarshamn plant, which is majority held by German energy giant EON, have been in service since 1972, 1974, and 1985 and produce about 10 percent of Sweden's electricity.

Nuclear power accounts for nearly half of all electricity production in Sweden, which has 10 working nuclear reactors.

(Source: Forbes)

Vattenfall: Interested In Developing Nuclear Plants In UK

Swedish utility Vattenfall said Friday it is interested in developing nuclear power plants in the U.K.

"We don't comment on rumors but we are of course interested in the British market," a spokesman for the company told Dow Jones Newswires when asked if the company was in talks with British Energy (BGY.LN) about possibly building reactors or even buying a stake in the U.K. nuclear power producer.

"We are interested in developments in nuclear power there," said the spokesman.

Vattenfall has previously said that it supported pre-licensing applications to the U.K. government for nuclear reactors designed by France's Areva SA (CEI.FR) and General Electric (GE) of the U.S.

Vattenfall is seen as a likely candidate to be interested in the bidding process for British Energy, as it is one of the few European utilities with sufficient money to make the acquisition, as well as being an experienced nuclear power operator.

Last month, British Energy said it was in talks with potential suitors after the U.K. government indicated that it might sell its 35% stake in the power company. Under U.K. takeover rules, if a company were to buy the entirety of this stake, it would have to make a full takeover bid for the company.

Germany's RWE AG (RWEOY) has reportedly offered close to 700 pence a share in case for the company, valuing it at GBP11 billion.

According to media reports, EDF Energy, the U.K. arm of Electricite de France (1024251.FR), and U.K. utility Centrica PLC (CPYYY) have also made offers to buy either part or all of the company.

Spanish utility Iberdrola (IBE.MC), German power company E.ON AG (EONGY) and Suez (SZE.FR) have also said they are in talks to potentially buy into British Energy.

Unlike companies like Centrica, E.ON, and EdF, Vattenfall is likely to want to build nuclear reactors to supply industrial customers as it doesn't have a retail supply market in the U.K., analysts said.

Companies are looking to buy into British Energy as it owns some of the most suitable sites for building new nuclear power plants in the U.K. It is one of the few U.K. energy firms with a large number of experienced nuclear staff.

At 1554 GMT, British Energy shares traded up 1.20% at 741 pence.

(Source: CNNMoney.com)

IAEA Concludes Operational Safety Review of Sweden’s Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant

Vattenfall:

The UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has concluded its operational safety review of Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant and expects to be able to present its final report for Swedish Government inspection within around three months.

“The requested OSART review is very much in line with our expectations,” said Hans von Uthmann a Senior Executive Vice President of Vattenfall and chair of the board of Forsmark. “I would like to thank the OSART team above all for all their hard work in identifying areas for improvement. We can also state that the IAEA inspection clearly shows that the measures initiated a year ago are already bearing fruit.”

Areas where IAEA considers there are opportunities for improvement include:

• Forsmark should review the responsibilities of operating staff, including an analysis and definition of what would be the lowest satisfactory manning level for shifts.
• In consultation with its shareholders, Forsmark should implement an independent high-level review to maintain adequate safety accountability beyond the operator.
• Forsmark should strengthen and improve the control and review process of operational documentation, emergency preparedness procedures, and operator’s aids.
• Forsmark should improve its programme for feedback on operating experience.
• Forsmark should establish and implement appropriate control of fire load especially in areas containing safety systems.
• Forsmark should implement further appropriate chemistry specifications.

IAEA also identified several so-called good practices at the plant, such as:

• A well-structured management manual which supports communication of management expectations and commitments
• Computerised monitoring of safety functions and operating status checks
• Effective management of fire cells in order to prevent the spread of any fire and associated fumes
• Use of the training simulator to describe complex events to the media and other key groups.

These examples of good practice will be disseminated to other nuclear power plant around the world to enable these too, to have the opportunity of implementing them in their operations.

“I am satisfied with the findings that clearly show Forsmark maintains a high international standard and I know that Forsmark has worked very hard with the international review,” said Jan Edberg, President, Forsmarks Kraftgrupp AB. “We are going to implement the invaluable suggestions we have received through the IAEA OSART review in our ongoing development programme.”

(Source: Business Wire)

Nuclear news 14/01/2008

Swedish alliance party calls for nuclear rethink
Guardian
Sweden should rethink its commitment to phase out nuclear power and build four new atomic plants in the next few years, the leader of one of its ruling, centre-right alliance parties said on Friday.
The call for a rethink follows hot on the heels of Britain's decision to invest in new nuclear power stations and echoes a growing movement which sees atomic energy as a means to tackle global warming and meet climate change emission targets.
Liberal Party leader Jan Bjorklund said Sweden's parliament should scrap its ban on building new nuclear power stations soon after the next election, due in 2010.
The Liberal Party is one fo three junior members of the centre-right coalition government dominated by the bigger Moderate Party.

Suez, Total, Areva plan nuclear power project in United Arab Emirates
MarketWatch
French oil major Total SA, and nuclear engineering specialist Areva Monday confirmed a joint plan to build and operate nuclear facilities in the United Arab Emirates.
"Total, Suez and Areva intend to submit a proposal for an integrated nuclear power generation solution comprising two 1,600-megawatt European Pressurized Reactors and fuel-cycle products and services," in the UAE, the three companies said in a joint statement. "Local partners will take part in the project," the companies added.
The accord comes amid a visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.

India, China pledge nuclear cooperation
Sify News, India
Breaking new grounds, India and China on Monday decided to promote bilateral cooperation in civil nuclear energy and expedite resolution of the festering boundary issue.
The two countries "pledged to promote bilateral cooperation in civil nuclear energy consistent with respective international commitments which will contribute to energy security and to dealing with risks associated with climate change," a six-page joint document outlining 'shared vision of the 21st century of India and China' said.

Over 100 NRIs To Lobby For India In Nuclear Supplies Group
News Post India
With indications that the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) may meet in March to decide on opening doors of nuclear commerce to India, a group of non-resident Indians recently conducted a 'recruiting drive' to lobby in their respective countries for India's case.

Scotland: Nuclear waste stores considered
The Press Association
Up to six new nuclear waste stores could be built under proposals being considered by the Scottish Government.
The plans would see waste stored near Scotland's nuclear powers stations and no longer transported to a dump near Sellafield power station in Cumbria which takes waste from across the UK.