The decommissioning of unit 2 at the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant in Sweden has passed a major milestone with the completion of the segmentation of the reactor internals.

A permit for the expansion of the existing SFR repository for low- and intermediate-level waste should be granted under the Sweden's Environmental Code, the country's Radiation Safety Authority has recommended to the Land and Environment Court in Stockholm.

Uniper has drawn up a "long-term and common strategy" for the demolition of the two-unit Barsebäck nuclear power plant in Sweden, together with units 1 and 2 of the Oskarshamn plant. Decommissioning work is already under way at all four reactors.

France's Framatome has completed a project to upgrade the safety instrumentation and control (I&C) system of unit 3 at the Forsmark nuclear power plant in Sweden.

EDF subsidiary Cyclife has been awarded three contracts to treat waste metal from nuclear energy operations in Finland, Spain and the UK.

National coordination is needed for long-term knowledge management in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority has told the government.

Swedish utility Vattenfall has signed contracts - the values of which have not been disclosed - for the supply of fuel assemblies for units at the Forsmark and Ringhals nuclear power plants. France's Framatome is to supply fuel for Forsmark 3 and Ringhals 3 and 4, while US-Spanish joint venture GNF Enusa will produce fuel for Forsmark 1 and 2.

Work to dismantle the reactor pressure vessel's internals at unit 2 of the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant in Sweden is set to begin at the end of April. Plant operator OKG AB said this will mark the start of the first major decommissioning work at the plant.

EDF subsidiary Cyclife will treat some 1800 tonnes of metal waste produced during the decommissioning of three Italian nuclear power plants under a contract signed with Societa Gestione Impianti Nucleari SpA. The five-year contract is worth about €28 million ($35 million).

Sweden's Radiation Safety Authority today submitted a positive opinion to the government on Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB's (SKB's) application to build a repository for used nuclear fuel, together with a plant to encapsulate the fuel prior to disposal. However, the Land and Environment Court in Stockholm has called for further documentation on the copper capsules in which the fuel will be stored within the repository.

Some SEK900 million ($107 million) will be invested in installing independent core cooling systems at units 3 and 4 of the Ringhals nuclear power plant in Sweden. The legally-required safety upgrade will enable the two reactors to continue operating beyond 2020.

Parties to the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management - known as the Joint Convention - have submitted national reports detailing the steps they are taking to meet their commitments under the convention ahead of next year's review meeting. Sweden's submission reflects a particularly intensive licensing phase for its used fuel management programme.