Vattenfall: 2007 restarts 'unlikely'

Swedish energy group Vattenfall, in reporting its results for the third quarter of 2007, stated that it is "still unclear" if its Brunsbuttel and Krummel nuclear power plants in Germany would be restarted before the end of 2007. Both plants were shut down on 28 June due to short circuits in the electricity grid. At Brunsbuttel, a failure in the grid preceded the shutdown. At Krummel, the shutdown was caused by a fire in a power transformer. Vattenfall said the prolonged outages were due to the detection of "a couple of deviant anchors" in subsequent inspections of the units. Anchors were installed on piping systems during a previous backfitting campaign to improve the seismic safety of Germany's nuclear power plants. Vattenfall said the outages at its German reactors had cost the company some Eur0.8 million ($1.15 million) per day. The company reported a SKr555 million ($87 million) charge for the third quarter from lost electricity sales as a result of Brunsbuttel and Krummel not operating. Vattenfall said it has lost almost 200,000 customers in Germany because of a "crisis in confidence" following the closure of the units. In Sweden, Vattenfall's operations were also been affected by a month-long outage at Ringhals 3, which was due to a short circuit as a result of a tool being left in a newly installed generator. Despite the problems at its plants, Vattenfall reported a 38% increase in operating profit for the third quarter to SKr4.55 billion ($714 million).