the strange world of Swedish energy & politics

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@AECL.CA>]

Could this be an indication that people are finally coming around to their senses ?

Jaro

NUCLEONICS WEEK - November 22, 2001

VATTENFALL APPROVES INVESTMENT

AIMED AT 40-YEAR REACTOR LIVES

Vattenfall’s board has decided to go ahead with a 1.5-billion-kronor

(U.S.$150-million) investment program at

Ringhals and Barsebaeck, as planned, in what Ringhals management

says is a clear sign the Swedish state-owned utility

plans to operate its reactors for 40 years.

Ringhals AB President Jan Edberg said in an interview he

is convinced Swedish reactors will run for 40 years each,

instead of shutting down after the 25-year lifetimes they were

originally intended to have, and despite the government’s

official position that it will continue the early nuclear decommissioning

that began with Barsebaeck-1.

Production managers at the Ringhals plant say Vattenfall’s

decision means they will now make investment and

maintenance/upgrade decisions based on 40-year lifetimes

with more confidence than they could before. Upgrading at

Ringhals-2, for instance, will be done to ensure "at least another

20 years of safe and profitable operation," said unit

manager Lars Eliasson. The reactor is about 20 years old.

Management at Vattenfall had postponed a modernization

program at Ringhals-1, saying it needed to be reassessed in

the context of Vattenfall’s overall investment program. The

Ringhals-1 upgrade will go ahead, but investments will be

stretched over several more years than originally planned, and

each phase will be reviewed more closely before it begins.

The Vattenfall board will review the energy market situation

in Sweden in 2003 before making further upgrading decisions.

Edberg, who took over as president of Ringhals AB in

July, said he’s pleased with the decision. But he warned, "If

Ringhals is going to carry out a major investment program,

the tax situation has to be changed."

Instead of paying tax on electricity produced from their

nuclear plants, Swedish utilities now pay a capacity tax, based

on nominal production from rated capacity and not on real

generation. Utility managers say the tax is costing them hundreds

of millions of kronor more per year than a production

tax, and have warned the government that they may shut

down older reactors and sue for damages if the tax is not rescinded.

The government is expected to bring a bipartisan proposition

on the energy sector to the parliament, in April.

The investment program just approved by Vattenfall calls

for 750-million kronor in investment in the five Ringhals AB

plants in 2002 and the same amount in 2003. About 100-million

kronor each will go to Ringhals-1 and Barsebaeck-2,

with most of the remaining money going to Ringhals-2. The

investments are intended primarily to improve and maintain

safety and to make operation and maintenance more effective.

The next phase, in 2003, would be major modernization at

Ringhals-3 and -4, as well as investments that would prolong

the operating lifetime of Ringhals-1.

Edberg, who was operating Vattenfall’s Polish business

before taking over at Ringhals, said he’s also convinced that

Vattenfall has to continue its expansion in Europe. The company

owns Hamburgische Electricitaetswerke (HEW) in Germany,

in addition to its Polish operations.

To expand, Edberg said that the state, as sole owner, "has

to accept Vattenfall as a player in this market and give Vattenfall

the resources it needs." That, he said, means the state

should at least partially privatize the utility. "I think they

should have done it five years ago," he said. "I think they will

eventually be forced to."—Ariane Sains, Stockholm