Our mission
For many years, OKG’s sole mission was to generate electricity in a climate efficient manner. However, in recent years this mission has been expanded to include responsibility for the decommissioning of the two reactors that have been taken out of service.
One Company – Two Missions
OKG Aktiebolag was established on 14 July 1965 and has been a subsidiary of Uniper in Sweden since 2016, with Uniper holding a 54.5 per cent ownership stake in OKG. The remaining 45.5 per cent is owned by Fortum. Our primary mission is to produce safe and competitive electricity from nuclear power over the long term, based on a high level of expertise. OKG assumes responsibility for the entire nuclear lifecycle. This mission therefore also includes carrying out the responsible and cost effective decommissioning of facilities that are taken out of operation.
Decommissioning
OKG takes responsibility for the entire nuclear lifecycle, and in addition to producing safe and competitive electricity from nuclear power, its mission also includes carrying out the responsible and cost effective decommissioning of facilities that are taken out of operation.
Decommissioning
In 2015, OKG’s then majority owner decided to shut down Oskarshamn Unit 1 (O1) and Oskarshamn Unit 2 (O2) ahead of schedule. The decision meant that O2, which at the time was in the middle of a modernisation project, would not be restarted, and that O1 would be taken out of operation by mid 2017.
What happens now?
In recent years, OKG has carried out intensive planning and preparatory work, primarily related to engineering design and permitting, but also involving practical preparations. This work was undertaken to create the necessary conditions for the large scale dismantling and demolition activities that began in 2020.
Preparatory work
Examples of preparatory work include the defuelling of O2 in December 2017, followed in spring 2018 by the start of work to cut up the internal components of the reactor pressure vessel. In parallel, O1 was defuelled, and during 2019 work was ongoing to segment its internal components.
Financing
The owners assume responsibility for the cost of decommissioning, and the financing is carried out primarily through funds from the Nuclear Waste Fund (KAF), in accordance with the Swedish system and the model in place.
Funding
In the early 1980s, the Swedish Parliament decided on a financing system to manage the costs of the future handling of nuclear fuel and the decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear power reactors. Under this system, the nuclear power companies themselves are responsible for paying for the handling and final disposal of nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel, as well as for covering the costs of decommissioning the reactors. For this reason, the companies make regular payments to the Nuclear Waste Fund (KAF).
KAF is a government authority tasked with receiving and managing the fees paid by nuclear power companies and other license holders of nuclear facilities. These fees are intended, among other things, to finance future expenditures related to the management of spent nuclear fuel and other residual products.
The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) examines and decides how the funds may be used, while KAF is responsible for making disbursements from the fund.
The Swedish System
Under Swedish law, the Swedish nuclear power companies are obliged both to manage Swedish nuclear waste and to be responsible for its financing. Sweden has an established system in place for managing the waste, and Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co. (SKB) has been assigned this responsibility. SKB is owned by the nuclear power companies.
The Swedish System
The system for managing Swedish radioactive waste consists of a number of facilities that together form a secure chain. The first parts of the system were established as early as the early 1980s, while others still remain to be built. The level of radioactivity of the waste determines how it is handled.
Spent nuclear fuel from Swedish nuclear power plants is stored at Clab, the Central Interim Storage Facility for Spent Nuclear Fuel, pending disposal in the Spent Fuel Repository that SKB plans to build in Forsmark. Under continuous monitoring and control, the fuel is stored in water-filled pools 25–30 metres below ground level.
In Forsmark, approximately 50 metres below sea level in the crystalline bedrock, is SFR, the final repository for short-lived radioactive waste. Operational waste from nuclear power plants is stored here, such as used protective clothing, replaced components, and filter materials that have been used to clean reactor water.
The planned Spent Fuel Repository constitutes the final link in the chain for managing spent nuclear fuel. There, the fuel will be stored in a system of tunnels, enclosed in copper canisters surrounded by bentonite clay, at a depth of about 500 metres in the bedrock.