Swedish nuke reactor back up; no reason given for shutdown

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The sole reactor of a nuclear power plant in southern Sweden was working again but the plant remained disconnected from the country’s power grid Thursday, an official said.

The power station’s Oskarshamn 3 reactor was shut down Wednesday due to unexpected turbine problems. The outage came as soaring energy prices and supply problems have European countries scrambling to ensure they have enough power for the coming winter.

“Late last night, the disturbance that caused the turbine stop was fixed and the start-up began,” plant spokeswoman Désirée Liljevall told The Associated Press. She said the plant’s operator, OKG, never comments on the causes of shutdowns.

Liljevall said the plant was gearing up gradually and would go back on the power grid when it reached its full production capacity of 1,450 megawatts. Nord Pool, a pan-European power exchange, said the maximum power is expected to be reached later this week.

No radiation leaks or other potential hazards were reported in Wednesday’s shutdown.

OKG said on its website that the reactor is one of the world’s largest boiling water reactors. Construction of the plant began in 1980, and it started running five years later.

The Oskarshamn plant initially had three reactors, but two were permanently shut down.

Sweden, a country of about 10 million, has two other nuclear power plants: one at Forsmark north of Stockholm and another at Ringhals south of Goteborg.

Earlier this year, the restart of one of the two reactors at the Ringhals plant was postponed to Jan. 31 due to maintenance.

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