Vattenfall Ringhals 1 Nuclear Reactor Shuts Down

The nuclear power plant, Ringhals 1, was shut down as planned on New Year’s Eve. After nearly 45 years of power operation, the nuclear fuel will now be removed from the reactor, after which the plant will be prepared for decommissioning. Ringhals 1 was put into commercial service on 1 January 1976 and at the time of its final shutdown was estimated to have delivered 220 terawatt hours of electricity, which corresponds to the whole of Gothenburg’s consumption of electricity during the same period.

Even though both Ringhals 1 and 2 have now been shut down, electricity generation at Ringhals continues with the Ringhals 3 and 4 reactors. These reactors have been equipped with independent core cooling, an investment of SEK 900 million and a regulatory requirement to continue operations after the turn of the year. Ringhals 3 and 4 provide approximately 12 percent of the country’s electricity generation, previously the four reactors combined answered for around 20 percent of Swedish electricity generation.