The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) has lifted its special supervision regime on OKG, the operator of the Oskarshamn NPP, according to a 1 July statement. The three-unit plant has been operating under special supervision since December 2012, after SSM decided that actions taken by OKG to address weaknesses related to five areas of safety culture identified in 2011 had been insufficient.
In September 2013, SSM asked OKG to submit a plan for correcting deficiencies in its programme for managing the aging and degradation of structures, systems and components that are important for safety at Oskarshamn. In a separate incident that came to light in October 2014, SSM said OKG had violated regulations by failing to submit predicted collective dose information and radiation protection actions for renovation work at unit 2 of Oskarshamn NPP. SSM said the incident was "very serious" and OKG needed to analyse how the problem arose. In October 2015, OKG’s shareholders voted to close Oskarshamn-1 and -2 over concerns about their economic viability. Oskarshamn-1 is to cease operation in 2017, while Oskarshamn-2 has been shut down since 2013 and will not be restarted.
Meanwhile, the shutdown of unit 1 of Oskarshamn NPP is to proceed as planned in mid-2017, OKG confirmed, following approval by the Land and Environmental Court in Växjö of its decommissioning plans. The company applied in June 2015 for a permit to decommission Oskarshamn 1, a 473MWe boiling water reactor that started up in 1972. The removal of fuel and some internal equipment parts from the unit is expected to be completed by the end of 2019, after which dismantling and demolition work will begin. A separate application has been filed for decommissioning Oskarshamn 2, which was closed last year.
