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The Forsmark nuclear power plant. The plant suffered a serious safety incident and has been shut down for investigation.
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Closing the Swedish plants has instantly shut down about 20
per cent of Sweden's electricity supply.
So what happened? During a power cut, emergency power systems to the Forsmark plant failed for a full 20 minutes. If power was not restored there could have been a major incident within hours.
A former director of the Forsmark plant says, "It was pure luck that there was not a meltdown. Since the electricity supply from the network didn't work as it should have, it could have been a catastrophe."
It appears that the fault in the backup power systems dates back to new equipment installed in 1993. So the faulty equipment, vital for preventing a meltdown, went undetected for 13 years. The same equipment is also installed on other countries' nuclear power plants. Germany is already checking its nuclear plants for the same fault.
Nuclear plants are vulnerable to power cuts. All nuclear plants need power to control them. If mains power is lost, back up power is used to control the reactor. This power is supplied by back up generators and there have been many instances where these generators have been faulty or susceptible to storms or floods. This has caused temporary closures of plants in the US and elsewhere.
Cut the power to a clean energy source, like a wind or solar farm, and it will stop making electricity for the grid. But at least it won't threaten to melt down. Nuclear power relies on old, inefficient centralised power grids that are vulnerable to power cuts. Clean renewable energy sources help create more efficient decentralised power, generated much closer to where it is used.
The problems with Swedish nuclear plants come hot on the heels of other nuclear problems in Europe due to the hot dry summer. Two nuclear plants in Germany recently had to reduce output due to the lack of sufficient water for cooling in rivers. If the drought continues, many nuclear plants that rely on rivers for cooling water will have to reduce output or shut down.
Luckily, Sweden plans to phase out its nuclear power plants rather than rely on dirty and expensive nuclear power that can fail dangerously during a power cut and be shut down by droughts.
Climate change will worsen droughts in Australia. Nuclear is unsafe and no solution to climate change. Safe, renewable energy and energy efficiency are the only solutions for our power generation and climate change.
So what happened? During a power cut, emergency power systems to the Forsmark plant failed for a full 20 minutes. If power was not restored there could have been a major incident within hours.
A former director of the Forsmark plant says, "It was pure luck that there was not a meltdown. Since the electricity supply from the network didn't work as it should have, it could have been a catastrophe."
It appears that the fault in the backup power systems dates back to new equipment installed in 1993. So the faulty equipment, vital for preventing a meltdown, went undetected for 13 years. The same equipment is also installed on other countries' nuclear power plants. Germany is already checking its nuclear plants for the same fault.
Power cuts
Nuclear plants are vulnerable to power cuts. All nuclear plants need power to control them. If mains power is lost, back up power is used to control the reactor. This power is supplied by back up generators and there have been many instances where these generators have been faulty or susceptible to storms or floods. This has caused temporary closures of plants in the US and elsewhere.
Cut the power to a clean energy source, like a wind or solar farm, and it will stop making electricity for the grid. But at least it won't threaten to melt down. Nuclear power relies on old, inefficient centralised power grids that are vulnerable to power cuts. Clean renewable energy sources help create more efficient decentralised power, generated much closer to where it is used.
When the going gets hot, nuclear plants stop running
The problems with Swedish nuclear plants come hot on the heels of other nuclear problems in Europe due to the hot dry summer. Two nuclear plants in Germany recently had to reduce output due to the lack of sufficient water for cooling in rivers. If the drought continues, many nuclear plants that rely on rivers for cooling water will have to reduce output or shut down.
Luckily, Sweden plans to phase out its nuclear power plants rather than rely on dirty and expensive nuclear power that can fail dangerously during a power cut and be shut down by droughts.
Climate change will worsen droughts in Australia. Nuclear is unsafe and no solution to climate change. Safe, renewable energy and energy efficiency are the only solutions for our power generation and climate change.
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