Request to operate Forsmark 2 at increased power

Forsmark Group AB has applied to the Swedish nuclear regulator to operate permanently unit 2 of the Forsmark nuclear power plant at a higher power level. The unit has been in trial operation for the past two years following a 12% power uprate.

Forsmark Group AB has applied to the Swedish nuclear regulator to operate permanently unit 2 of the Forsmark nuclear power plant at a higher power level. The unit has been in trial operation for the past two years following a 12% power uprate.

Forsmark unit 2 (Image: Vattenfall)

Vattenfall - majority owner of plant operator Forsmark Group - announced today that it has applied to Sweden's Radiation Safety Authority (Strålsäkerhetsmyndigheten, SSM) for permission to operate permanently Forsmark 2 at 1120 MWe.

Forsmark unit 2 has been in trial operation since March 2013 following an increase in capacity from 1000 MWe to 1120 MWe. During the first two months of trial operation, a series of inspections and system tests were carried out before the reactor eventually reached the new power level of 1120 MWe in late May 2013.

Vattenfall said the uprate and modernization of Forsmark 2 required an investment of some SEK 1 billion ($120 million). It claims the 12% increase in capacity corresponds to the annual consumption of around 200,000 households. The company says the uprate of unit 2 was instrumental in the Forsmark plant setting a new production record for the second year in a row in 2014.

Per-Göran Nilsson, director of Forsmark units 1 and 2, said, "The trial period has gone very well and has been completely trouble-free." He added, "We are now seeing the positive results of our investments that we have carried out over more than a decade to modernize our reactors."

The Forsmark plant comprises three boiling water reactors. Unit 1 began commercial operation in 1980, while unit 2 started up the following year. Unit 3 began in 1985.

Forsmark Group announced last November that it will proceed with power uprate work at unit 1. The uprate - expected to be completed by 2020 - will add some 114 MWe of power output to the unit's current capacity of 984 MWe (net).

However, at the same time the group decided to remove a planned 170 MWe power uprate for Forsmark 3 from current planning saying it was no longer economically feasible. That unit will remain at its current capacity of 1187 MWe.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News