The Swedish government's proposed closure date for Barseback 2 is 31 May 2005 but the date has been challenged by owners Vattenfall and Sydkraft.
When the preliminary closure date was announced, Peter Andersen, speaking for Barsebäck’s management, said that the date could only be changed for safety or technical reasons.
The utilities have now written to the Ministry of Industry Employment and Communications to say that they believe the unit should not be shut down until an environmental impact assessment has been made concerning the future decommissioning. They do not think that such an assessment can be completed before 31 May 2005.
Vattenfall and Sydkraft are expected to join a court case being brought against the government by Barsebäck's host region, Kävlinge, which is based on similar arguments.
