Vattenfall said a contract for the work covers the reactor pressure vessels, internals and fuel racks. In a statement the company said the value of the contract was not being disclosed for commercial reasons, but it is worth several hundred million krona.
Westinghouse said that its engineers will start the dismantling process digitally with 3D modelling of all the cutting and packaging that will be performed onsite. For the reactor internals, they will use mechanical underwater remote-controlled equipment. For the RPVs, dry thermal cutting technologies will be used for most of the parts.
Vattenfall said the cost of the contracts is funded by Sweden’s nuclear waste fund, which has been built up by nuclear power plant owners since the 1970s.
Decommissioning of Ringhals-1 and -2 will begin next year with the Westinghouse part of the project scheduled to begin by April 2023.
“The agreement with Westinghouse Electric means that it is clear how the large radioactive components at Ringhals-1 and -2 shall be dismantled and this also sets the framework for other dismantling activities in the facilities,” said Christopher Eckerberg, head of nuclear decommissioning at Vattenfall.
The 881-MW Ringhals-1 was shut down in January after 44 years of commercial operation. The 807-MW Ringhals-2 was permanently shut down after more than 43 years of commercial operation in December 2019.
Ringhals-1 is a boiling water reactor built in 1969 by ASEA Atom, while Ringhals-2 is a pressurised water reactor built in 1970 by Westinghouse. The two companies were later consolidated into Westinghouse
Vattenfall said in 2015 that it would close the two Ringhals plants as a result of falling demand, the falling price of electricity and the units being in need of costly maintenance.
