Swedish nuclear plant operator OKG has indefinitely postponed a 180MW power uprate at its Oskarshamn 2 boiling water reactor.
"Current market forecasts indicate that there is no need for such a major power addition at present," OKG managing director, Johan Svenningsson, said.
Oskarshamn 2, which has been out of service for modernisation work since June 2013, is expected to return to the grid in December. The power uprate was to be the fourth and final stage of the multi-year upgrade project, which started in 2007.
OKG says it has already renegotiated the supplier contract for the power uprate that was planned for 2017. As modernisation work already carried out at the plant supports the capacity increase from 661MW to 840MW, OKG can now call for it when the market demands. However, it says, no decision has been made on when the uprate might go ahead.
Permit filed for Oskarshamn 1decommissioning
In related news, OKG has applied to a Swedish land and environment court for a licence to decommission Oskarshamn 1, a 492MW BWR that started operation in 1972.
Svenningsson said that OKG has not made a decision to retire the reactor, but noted that after nearly five decades years of operation, the facility is "gradually losing its competitiveness" in relation to other kinds of production capacity.
The environmental court ruling is expected in 2016-2017.
Photo: Oskarshamn 2 (Credit:OKG)
