Nuclear reactor shut down
A nuclear reactor at the Ringhals nuclear plant south of Gothenburg has been shut down while officials investigate a small leak.
The decision to shut down the Ringhals 2 reactor was taken on Thursday evening after the leak was noted in the so-called primary system - the power station's cooling system. Twelve litres of water per hour is currently leaking out, compared to a normal six.
It is not yet known how long the reactor will be out of service.
"This is nothing serious," said Lars Eliasson, head of production at Ringhals.
"We have tried to find the reason for the leak in those parts of the reactor we can inspect while it is operating, but we haven't found an explanation. We have now stopped the reactor so that we can reach those areas which cannot be inspected while the reactor is running," Eliasson said.
Eliasson said there were no other reasons for the shutdown.
"These are not large volumes of water we are talking about," he said.
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The decision to shut down the Ringhals 2 reactor was taken on Thursday evening after the leak was noted in the so-called primary system - the power station's cooling system. Twelve litres of water per hour is currently leaking out, compared to a normal six.
It is not yet known how long the reactor will be out of service.
"This is nothing serious," said Lars Eliasson, head of production at Ringhals.
"We have tried to find the reason for the leak in those parts of the reactor we can inspect while it is operating, but we haven't found an explanation. We have now stopped the reactor so that we can reach those areas which cannot be inspected while the reactor is running," Eliasson said.
Eliasson said there were no other reasons for the shutdown.
"These are not large volumes of water we are talking about," he said.
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