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Sweden reopens two nuclear reactors
AFP
STOCKHOLM
Petroleumworld.com 09 29 06
Sweden authorised the reopening of two nuclear reactors on Thursday after they were shut down on July 25 due to safety concerns.
The Forsmark reactors in central Sweden were closed after a short-circuit caused a blackout. Two of four backup diesel generators failed to start automatically, revealing other faults in the power station's electrical system.
Sweden's nuclear energy authority (SKI) was forced to halt operations at three other of the country's 10 reactors after the incident at Forsmark.
"All required measures to restart Forsmark 1 and 2 have been taken," said Lars Fegerberg, managing director of Forsmarks Kraftgrupp, in a statement.
Both reactors would start up Thursday evening, with the first reaching maximum production capacity on Sunday and the second on Monday, a spokesman from the nuclear plant told AFP.
In all, the closure will have caused a loss of 1.5 billion krona (162 million euros, 206 million dollars), including one billion for the Swedish public energy group Vattenfall, the statement said.
In a report on the incident on September 14, SKI said Forsmark personnel reacted correctly in "a unique situation".
It said the incident had not damaged the reactor and that it was a level-two incident on a scale from zero to seven.
SKI has told Forsmarks Kraftgrupp that it will increase its checks on the company.
Nuclear power accounts for nearly half of Sweden's electricity production.
AFP 28 1959 GMT 09 06
Copyright ©2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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