Remaining Swedish reactors given green light to continue operating

Aug 4, 2006, 17:22 GMT

Stockholm - Five of Sweden's 10 nuclear reactors that were online Friday were given the green light to remain in operation, a government agency said.

The Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI) said it was 'confident' the five nuclear reactors could operate with 'sufficient security.'

Meanwhile, the nuclear watchdog was reviewing reports from operators of four nuclear reactors that were shut down due to concerns over their security and backup systems.

The reviews were commissioned after an incident last week at the Forsmark nuclear power plant, 75 kilometres north of Stockholm, where two of four backup generators malfunctioned after the reactor shut down.

Two of the three Forsmark reactors have been taken offline while technicians investigate the fault believed to be linked to electricity supply from the network.

Two reactors at the Oskarshamn facility in southeastern Sweden were also taken offline as part of reviews of the systems.

A fifth reactor at the Ringhals nuclear power plant on the west coast was offline due to planned maintenance work.

The Forsmark incident triggered demands for an independent review of nuclear safety, and environmental group Greenpeace called for an immediate shutdown of all Swedish nuclear reactors.

Sweden operated 12 nuclear rectors at most. Two at the Barseback plant in southern Sweden have been decommissioned, most recently in May 2005.

A 1980 referendum decided Sweden would phase out nuclear power, which accounts for about half of the country's electricity.