All legislative power in Sweden sits with the Parliament (Riksdagen). The Government has the executive power and also the initiative to propose changes in legislation. In addition, European Union membership has significant impact on rules and regulations in certain matters within the energy sector, as the Commission and the Council have the power to decide on European regulations. Directives, however, are implemented into Swedish legislation through decisions by the Parliament or the Government.

The Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications is responsible for energy policy, and the Ministry for the Environment is responsible for climate policy, the built environment and also for nuclear safety and radiation protection. A special characteristic of the Swedish government is that ministries are quite small, and so day-to-day execution of policy is delegated to a wide array of national authorities. Energy authorities include the Swedish Energy Agency, the Energy Markets Inspectorate and the transmission system operator, Svenska Kraftnät. Nuclear safety and radiation protection are responsibilities of the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority and climate policy is handled by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (and, in parts, by the Swedish Energy Agency).

Sweden is a long, narrow country in northern Europe, bounded by Norway in the west, Finland in the northeast and the Baltic Sea in the south and east. The total length from north to south is 1,600 kilometres, and the land area is 410,932 km². After France and Spain, it is the largest territory in Western Europe, almost twice the size of Great Britain. The northwest part of Sweden consists of mountains, and many rivers and lakes are scattered all over the country. Sweden’s coast line is more than 2,000 kilometres long.

The northern boundary is located about 250 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, but because of the Gulf Stream coming from west, the climate is not of a polar type. The average yearly temperature varies between -1.5 °C in the north and 7.8 °C in the south.

The population data in Table 1 shows a slow increase in population. The population currently exceeds 9.4 million inhabitants. The population density is 23.1 inhabitants/km², although the northern part of Sweden is sparsely populated, with less than 20% of inhabitants living in the northern half of the country.

TABLE 1. POPULATION INFORMATION

							Average annual growth rate (%)
Year	1970	1980	1990	2000	2005	2011	2000 to 2011
Population (millions)	8.08	8.32	8.59	8.88	9.05	9.48	0.61
Population density (inhabitants/km˛)						23.08	0.61
Urban Population as % of total
Area (1000 km˛)	411

* Latest available data

Source: Statistics Sweden

TABLE 2. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP)

							Average annual growth rate (%)
	1970	1980	1990	2000	2005	2011	2000 to 2011
GDP (millions of current US$)	35,322	131,879	244,459	247,259	370,580	538,237	35,322
GDP (millions of constant 2000 US$)	174,915	212,357	263,882	324,508	370,580	415,774	174,915
GDP per capita (PPP* US$/capita)	4,570	10,552	19,301	27,948	32,701	41,526	4,570
GDP per capita (current US$/capita)	4,392	15,870	28,562	27,870	41,039	57,005	4,392

* PPP: Purchasing Power Parity

** Latest available data

Source: OECD

The two main domestic energy sources exploited are hydropower and bioenergy. Wind power is rapidly expanding, heat pumps capture significant amounts of free heat from the environment (ground, air and water) and peat provides another domestic source of energy.

There are four big rivers that are protected from hydro power construction under Swedish law, together with a number of smaller rivers and stretches of rivers and can therefore not be seen as potential renewable energy.

Sweden possesses large amounts of low-grade uranium. However, the uranium content in the ore is low or very low. According to OECD/NEA and IAEA statistics Sweden’s share of the world’s total quantity of uranium that can be extracted is less than 1%. The economic incentives to exploit such low grade uranium ores have not sufficed, and so no uranium mines are operated in Sweden. All nuclear fuel is therefore imported.

Most hydro power is located in the north of the country, and the electricity is transported to the south by several large 400 kV lines. All the nuclear power plants (NPP) are in the southern part of Sweden. Because of the abundance of rivers and lakes, all thermal power plants (nuclear or conventional) are cooled by sea, lake or river water.

TABLE 3. ESTIMATED AVAILABLE ENERGY SOURCES

	Estimated available energy sources
	Fossil Fuels			Nuclear	Renewables
	Solid	Liquid	Gas	Uranium	Hydro	Other Renewable
Total amount in specific units*				40001)	1302)
Total amount in Exajoule (EJ)

* Solid, Liquid: Million tons; Gas: Billion m3; Uranium: Metric tons; Hydro, Renewable: TW

Source: Uranium 2007: Resources, Production and demand. OECD/NEA & IAEA 2008; Survey of Energy Resources 2010, World Energy Council.

TABLE 4. ENERGY STATISTICS

							Average annual growth rate (%)
	1970	1980	1990	2000	2005	2011	2000 to 2011
Energy consumption**
- Total	1.589	1.707	2.002	1.987	2.184	2.039	0.24
- Solids***	0.080	0.070	0.107	0.108	0.110	0.094	-1.15
- Liquids	1.223	0.969	0.673	0.559	0.623	0.511	-0.77
- Gases	0.000	0.000	0.018	0.029	0.035	0.050	6.45
- Nuclear	0.000	0.289	0.716	0.625	0.790	0.664	0.57
- Hydro	0.149	0.212	0.258	0.284	0.262	0.239	-1.44
- Other Renewables	0.122	0.165	0.232	0.350	0380	0.487	3.57
Energy production						0.019	2.01
- Total	0.272	0.667	1.206	1.285	1.456	-0.026	-23.19
- Solids***	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.010	0.013
- Liquids	0.000	0.001	0.000	0.000	0.000	1.412	0.91
- Gases	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.008	-1.83
- Nuclear	0.000	0.289	0.716	0.625	0.790	0.000
- Hydro	0.149	0.212	0.258	0.284	0.262	0.000
- Other Renewables	0.122	0.165	0.232	0.350	0.380	0.664	0.57
Net import (Import - Export)						0.239	-
- Total	1.32	1.04	0.80	0.70	0.73	0.487	3.57

* Latest available data

** Energy consumption = Primary energy consumption + Net import (Import - Export) of secondary energy.

*** Solid fuels include coal, lignite

Source: IEA, Swedish Energy Agency

In both the long and the short term, the objective of Swedish energy policy is to ensure reliable supplies of electricity and other forms of energy to carriers at prices that are competitive with those of other countries. It is intended to create the right conditions for cost-efficient Swedish energy supply and efficient energy use, with minimum adverse effects on health, the environment or the climate. The Swedish government also promotes the concept of an eco-efficient economy, strongly advocating energy efficiency, green energy and low carbon technologies as positive drivers, not costs, for welfare and growth.

In the spring of 2009, the Swedish government presented a new and comprehensive energy and climate policy, which was approved by Parliament in June 2009. This integrated energy and climate policy is strongly influenced by the common European Union policies in those same areas. In several instances, the Swedish policies are more ambitious than the targets set by the EU.

Targets for 2020 include a 40% reduction (compared to 1990 levels) of greenhouse gas emissions in the non-ETS sector (which is more ambitious than the EU target for Sweden, of a decrease of 17% compared to 2005 levels), 50% renewable energy (EU obligation: 49%), 20% higher energy efficiency, and 10% renewable energy in the transport sector (common binding EU target). In addition, the European Union has called for the ETS sector to reduce its emissions by 21% by 2020. The overall European Union target for climate gas emission reductions is 20% by 2020, and the EU has committed to a reduction of 30% if other industrialized countries/regions adopt goals of a similar magnitude.

In addition to these medium-term goals, the Swedish government has set the goal for a vehicle stock that is “independent” of fossil fuels by the year 2030, and aims for fossil fuels to have been totally removed from the heating sector by 2020, with visions that Swedish net-emissions might reach zero by 2050.

Operationally, these visions, goals and targets have been translated into three action plans that are further developed by responsible authorities (e.g. the Swedish Energy Agency and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency):

1. Action plan for renewable energy, which includes an increase in the ambitions within the electricity certificate system to a level of approximately 25 TWh of new renewable electricity by 2020, and introduces increased ambitions when it comes to finding suitable locations for wind power – meaning that local governments should have the readiness to introduce a total of 20 TWh wind power on shore and 10 TWh wind power off shore. Sweden and Norway have operated a joint electricity certificate market since the beginning of 2012. Renewable electricity production that is approved by the system receives electricity certificates that can be used in both countries. The target of the joint electricity certificate market is to increase renewable electricity production by 26.4 TWh between 2012 and 2020.

2. Action plan for energy efficiency, which is focused on fulfilling the Energy Services Directive and other directives in the energy efficiency domain, including Eco-design, Energy Labelling, Energy Performance of buildings, etc. primarily by raising awareness, but also by introducing energy efficiency programmes targeted towards the industry (especially SMEs) and service sector companies. Heavy industry is already taking part in a voluntary agreement programme as well as, in most cases, the EU-ETS system.

3. Action plan for a vehicle fleet independent of fossil fuels, where economic incentives will play the major role, e.g. CO₂ taxes penalising the use of fossil fuels and tax rebates for environmentally friendly vehicles. In addition, blending of renewables into petrol and diesel will increase to levels approved (10% ethanol in petrol and 7% FAME in diesel) by the European Fuel Quality Directive. The Government, via the Swedish Energy Agency and other actors, has also boosted energy- and climate-related transport sector research and development, aiming at e.g. increasing the share of electricity for transportation purposes. The government is also allocating considerable funding for the continued development of second generation biofuels, e.g. through gasification of biomass and black liquor and cellulosic ethanol.

The Government also stresses the importance of efficient energy markets, and promotes the further development of common electricity and gas markets, both in the North European and the pan-European context. For Swedish conditions, gas markets should be developed in a way that promotes the further introduction of biogas. The Government also stresses the importance of CHP, which is already well developed both in district heating and in industry.

Nuclear power will continue to play an important role in the Swedish energy system. From 2011, new reactors may be installed on locations where NPPs are currently in operation. The total number of reactors may not exceed the present number of ten.

The Swedish electricity market was deregulated on January 1^st, 1996. The electricity market is thus characterised by the fact that the distribution networks are open to all economic actors and that there is an unbundling of companies in the sector, separating grid services from production and/or sales. The distribution networks constitute a natural monopoly, and the network operation is supervised by the Energy Markets Inspectorate, which also grants permission for the installation of power lines as well as issuing line concessions.

Electricity production started early in Sweden. The first generating plants, based on hydropower, were established in the 1880s. They were small and intended to supply power to industries and communities in close vicinity. Hundreds of small hydroelectric power stations were constructed. As the technique of transferring power over longer distances developed, it became possible to exploit the larger rivers for distribution of power to the south of the country.

Many of the companies which are responsible for the power supply today were formed at this time. The Government became engaged in the production and distribution of power at this stage. In 1906, Parliament granted funds for the first state-owned hydropower project, and in 1909, the Swedish State Power Board (now Vattenfall AB) was formed. Since that time, the production of power has been divided almost equally between the Government, through the Swedish State Power Board (Vattenfall AB), and power companies, owned by industries, municipalities and other non-governmental bodies.

Since the restructuring of the industry, there have been a number of changes with respect to ownership of the production utilities in the Nordic countries. Vattenfall, Fortum and E.ON dominate electricity production, trade and distribution in Sweden. On the common Nordic market as a whole, Swedish Vattenfall, Finnish Fortum, Norwegian Statkraft and German E.ON are the major players.

The Electrical Producers

Electricity is generated in plants owned by the state, the municipalities, industries and private companies. Additionally, a small amount of power is generated in small-scale privately-owned wind power and hydropower plants. All in all, the state owns approximately 40% of the generating capacity, with overseas owners holding approximately 40%, the municipalities approximately 13% and others approximately 8%.

Mergers and acquisitions have gradually reduced the number of large producers, during the last 20 years. Through this structural rationalisation, the generation of electricity has become strongly concentrated. The three largest power companies accounted for approximately 79% of Sweden's overall electricity generation during 2011.

The Nordic market is merged together in the world's first international commodity exchange for electrical power. Nord Pool Spot organises trade in standardised physical power contracts to Nordic and northern European participants. Financial contracts are traded on Nasdaq OMX Commodities. These exchanges play a key role as part of the infrastructure of the Nordic electricity power market, and thereby provide an efficient, publicly known price of electricity, both in the spot and the derivatives market.

The Transmission of Power

The transmission of power from power plants to customers takes place in the interconnected electricity network. The network is normally divided into three levels: the high-voltage grid and the regional and local networks.

The utility Svenska Kraftnät is responsible for the high-voltage grid, which includes the 220 kV and 400 kV lines, as well as the bulk of the links with neighbouring countries. The regional networks are owned and operated by 5 large power companies’ network companies, and generally include lines of 20-130 kV.

The local networks are owned and operated by 171 (as of 2011) network companies, and normally include lines of a maximum of 20 kV. The number of local network companies is gradually decreasing due to the continuing structural rationalisation of network operations. When network companies become larger, this often entails the local and regional networks being coordinated within the same network company.

The total length of the power lines in Sweden is 538,000 km, of which 59% are underground cables. The number of customers connected to the network is 5.2 million.

Today, most of Sweden’s electricity is produced by hydropower or nuclear power. In 2011, the country produced 150 TWh, of electricity, of which 44% was produced by hydropower and 34% by nuclear power, while thermal power production (primarily CHP using biomass/black liquor, municipal waste or peat) accounted for about 11%. Oil-fired cold condensing power plants and gas turbines are only and rarely used as reserve capacity, during years with low precipitation and resulting low hydropower production. Restructuring of the electricity market has resulted in several reserve power stations being taken out of use for economic reasons. There are also more than 2,018 wind power plants in the country (as of December 2011). However, their contribution to the electricity supply is still small, supplying about 4.2% during 2011.

The total installed capacity of the Swedish electricity production system was 36.5 GW in December 2011. However, 100% capacity is never available, and transmission capacity between the north and south of the country is limited. The normal transmission capacity means that 7,600 MW (including the 130 kV grid) can be transferred from north to central Sweden, and 5,300 MW from central to southern Sweden. Table 5 shows the historical electricity production data and the installed capacities of electrical plants. Table 6 presents energy related ratios.

TABLE 5. ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION, CONSUMPTION AND CAPACITY

							Average annual growth rate (%)
	1970	1980	1990	2000	2005	2011	2000 to 2011
Capacity of electrical plants (GWe)
- Thermal	4.44	7.95	7.82	7.53	7.42	7.99	0.55
- Hydro	10.86	14.86	16.33	16.53	16.35	16.20	-0.18
- Nuclear	0.06	4.61	9.97	9.42	9.47	9.36	-0.06
- Wind	0	0	0.01	0.21	0.45	2.90	116.41
- Geothermal	0	0	0	0	0
- other renewable	0	0	0	0	0
- Total	15.36	27.42	34.13	33.69	33.69	36.45	0.74
Electricity production (TWh)
- Thermal	19.05	10.96	5.28	9.19	12.25	17.10	7.82
- Hydro	41.54	58.87	73.04	78.62	72.87	66.41	-1.41
- Nuclear	0.06	26.49	68.19	57.32	72.38	60.87	0.56
- Wind	0	0	0	0.46	0.936	6.08	111.13
- Geothermal	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
- other renewable	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
- Total (1)	60.65	96.32	146.51	145.59	158.44	150.46	0.30
Total Electricity consumption (TWh)	63.50	94.60	139.95	146.63	147.10	138.40	-0.51

(1) Electricity transmission losses are not deducted.

* Latest available data

Source: IEA, Eurostat, Swedish Energy Agency

TABLE 6. ENERGY RELATED RATIOS

	1970	1980	1990	2000	2005	2011*
Energy consumption per capita (GJ/capita)	197	205	233	224	241	215
Electricity consumption per capita (kWh/capita)	7,858	11,373	16,291	16,507	16,258	14,595
Electricity production/Energy production (%)	80	52	44	41	39	38
Nuclear/Total electricity (%)	0	28	47	39	46	40
Ratio of external dependency (%) (1)	83	61	40	35	33	31

(1) Net import / Total energy consumption.

* Latest available data

Source: IEA, Eurostat, Statistics Sweden, Swedish Energy Agency

Nuclear technology was introduced in Sweden in 1947, when AB Atomenergi was constituted to carry out a development programme decided upon by the Parliament. As a result, the first research reactor (R1) went critical in 1954. This reactor was followed by the first prototype nuclear power reactor, Ĺgesta (PHWR), located in a rock cavern in a suburb of Stockholm. The Ĺgesta reactor was mainly used for district heating, and operated from 1964 until 1974, when it was permanently shut down. The first commercial nuclear power reactor, Oskarshamn 1, was commissioned in 1972, and was followed by another eleven units sited at Barsebäck, Oskarshamn, Ringhals and Forsmark in the time period up to 1985. The twelve commercial reactors constructed in Sweden comprise nine BWRs (ASEA-ATOM design) and three PWRs (Westinghouse design). As a result of political decisions, the twin BWR units Barsebäck 1 and 2 were finally shut down in 1999 and 2005, respectively.

In 2004, Studsvik Nuclear decided to permanently shut down the two research reactors (R2 and R2-0) at the Studsvik site. They were closed in June 2005. The decision was taken based on economic grounds; the licenses had recently been extended until 2014, subject to certain conditions. These reactors were mainly used for commercial materials testing purposes, isotope production, and as a neutron source for research purposes, medical applications and higher education. They are currently being decommissioned.

The restructuring of the European nuclear power industry, caused by the deregulation and widening of the electrical power markets, has brought about an internationalisation of the two Swedish utilities which were dominant for many years: Vattenfall AB and Sydkraft AB. Vattenfall AB has acquired large power production assets in Poland and Germany, including co-ownership of four German NPPs, and has established itself as a major actor on the European level. The major German utility, E.ON, has acquired all shares in Sydkraft AB. As a result, Sydkraft AB has changed its name to E.ON Sverige AB. The Finnish utility Fortum, owner of the Loviisa NPP, has established itself as a big owner on the Swedish market, with a large share of OKG. The result is a large amount of cross-ownership of the Swedish NPPs, as shown in Figure 1 below.

FIG 1. Structure of the nuclear electric sector in Sweden

At present, as of February 2011, there are 10 nuclear power reactors in operation in Sweden, as specified in Table 7. Three power reactors have been permanently shut down, namely Ĺgesta, Barsebäck 1 and Barsebäck 2. All the BWRs were designed by the domestic vendor ASEA-ATOM (later ABB Atom, now Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB) and all the PWRs, except Ĺgesta, were designed by Westinghouse USA.

Eight of the power reactors (including Barsebäck 1 and 2) were uprated during the period 1982-1989, by 6-10 % of the original licensed power levels. In recent years, new uprating plans have been launched for several NPPs (see Section 2.2.4.).

Of the total electrical power production in Sweden (133,700 GWh_e in 2009), nuclear power contributed 50,039 GWh_e, which is about 37%. The share normally varies between 40 and 50%. The energy availability factor 2007-2010 was 72.5% and the unit capability factor 73.7%. The unplanned capability loss factor was 14.5%.

During 2010, two incidents have been classified as Level 1 events according to the INES-scale.

See the IAEA Power Reactor Information System for performance data of individual reactors.

TABLE 7. STATUS AND PERFORMANCE OF NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

Reactor Unit	Type	Net Capacity [MW(e)]	Status	Operator	Reactor Supplier	Construction Date	First Criticality Date	First Grid Date	Commercial Date	Shutdown Date	UCF for 2013
FORSMARK-1	BWR	984	Operational	FKA	ABBATOM	1973-06-01	1980-04-23	1980-06-06	1980-12-10		87.8
FORSMARK-2	BWR	1120	Operational	FKA	ABBATOM	1975-01-01	1980-11-16	1981-01-26	1981-07-07		91.9
FORSMARK-3	BWR	1170	Operational	FKA	ABBATOM	1979-01-01	1984-10-28	1985-03-05	1985-08-18		88.6
OSKARSHAMN-1	BWR	473	Operational	OKG	ABBATOM	1966-08-01	1970-12-12	1971-08-19	1972-02-06		14.3
OSKARSHAMN-2	BWR	638	Operational	OKG	ABBATOM	1969-09-01	1974-03-06	1974-10-02	1975-01-01		32.7
OSKARSHAMN-3	BWR	1400	Operational	OKG	ABBATOM	1980-05-01	1984-12-29	1985-03-03	1985-08-15		78.8
RINGHALS-1	BWR	878	Operational	RAB	ABBATOM	1969-02-01	1973-08-20	1974-10-14	1976-01-01		80.6
RINGHALS-2	PWR	807	Operational	RAB	WH	1970-10-01	1974-06-19	1974-08-17	1975-05-01		86.4
RINGHALS-3	PWR	1062	Operational	RAB	WH	1972-09-01	1980-07-29	1980-09-07	1981-09-09		77.0
RINGHALS-4	PWR	938	Operational	RAB	WH	1973-11-01	1982-05-19	1982-06-23	1983-11-21		91.4
AGESTA	PHWR	10	Permanent Shutdown	BKAB	ABBATOM	1957-12-01	1963-07-17	1964-05-01	1964-05-01	1974-06-02
BARSEBACK-1	BWR	600	Permanent Shutdown	BKAB	ASEASTAL	1971-02-01	1975-01-18	1975-05-15	1975-07-01	1999-11-30
BARSEBACK-2	BWR	600	Permanent Shutdown	BKAB	ABBATOM	1973-01-01	1977-02-20	1977-03-21	1977-07-01	2005-05-31

Data source: IAEA - Power Reactor Information System

In Sweden, major investments are being made to increase safety, reduce environmental impact, upgrade and extend the lifetime of existing plants. In the years ahead, continued investments are planned primarily in safety upgrades, capacity increases and continued modernisation, so that the 10 remaining operating reactors can be in operation for 40 years and beyond.

The physical protection is also being extensively upgraded. The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority controls the upgrading through regulations issued a few years ago. The regulations on design and construction of nuclear power reactors take into account operating experience, safety analyses, development of safety standards and research results. The modernisation programmes are conducted in large projects over several years, either during extended outages or planned longer shut-down periods. The programmes primarily address the following safety areas:

• improvement of physical and functional separation

• diversification of safety functions

• improvement of the accident management capability

• improved withstanding of local dynamic effects from pipe breaks

• improved withstanding of external events

• improvement of operator aids

• improvement of environmental qualification and surveillance

Original planning included installations to be finalised around 2013. Several delays of the major installations have been experienced due to, inter alia, problems with delivery of equipment.

In connection with the modernisation work, the licensees have applied for uprating of eight reactors. This programme, including measures on the conventional side, will add approximately 1,275 MW_e to current nuclear power production capacity as shown in Table 3.

The operating license, issued by the Government, stipulates the highest allowed thermal power level. The license only applies up to this power level. To further increase the power level, the licensee has to apply to the Government for a new license in accordance with the Act (1984:3) on Nuclear Activities.

Nine of the power reactors (including Barsebäck 1 and 2) were uprated during the period 1982-1989 by between 6-10 % from the original licensed thermal power levels. This was possible due to better use of existing margins, better methods of analysis and improved fuel design. Major plant modifications were not necessary. Current plans for uprating include major uprates of seven reactors and a minor uprating of one reactor. The current power levels as of 2010 and the uprating plans are shown in the table below.

TABLE 8. PLANNED NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

Station/Project Name	Type	Capacity	Expected Construction Start Year	Expected Commercial Year
N.A.	N.A.	N.A.	N.A.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Most of the R&D in the field of nuclear safety is directed by the SSM and the nuclear power operators. It is performed at universities, Westinghouse Electric Sweden, Studsvik, at the Vattenfall central laboratory in Älvkarleby and at other research institutes, both at home and abroad.

Research to support nuclear safety supervision is focused on a number of strategic areas, such as safety assessment, safety analysis, reactor technology, materials and fuel questions, human factors, emergency preparedness and non-proliferation.

To fulfil these research needs, SSM contracts universities and consulting companies, with a dominant share going to research organisations in Sweden. However, since national resources are limited, Sweden has, for a long time, actively participated in international research. There has been a clear trend for many years of increasing levels of international co-operation, also for safety research. SSM is prioritising co-operation on research conducted in the OECD/NEA, and is participating in a large number of projects organised within this framework. An example is the Halden Project in Norway, which conducts research of importance for fuel, materials and human factors. An example of an OECD/NEA international project performed in Sweden is the fuel project SCIP (Studsvik Cladding Integrity Project). Since Sweden joined the EU, the importance of joint European work has increased. SSM is itself actively participating and supporting Swedish organisations participating in European Commission projects, and intends to support such projects in the future. Furthermore, in the safeguards area, important joint work is performed in ESARDA (European Safeguards Research and Development Association).

In the field of radiation protection, SSM supports research within radioecology, radiation protection of power plant workers, emergency preparedness, nuclear waste matters, and questions related to risk perception and acceptance of waste disposal. About 25% of the radiation protection research budget is used for non-nuclear research, i.e. medical and technical applications and uses of radiation, and for non-ionising radiation (UV, electromagnetic fields). Newly-allocated research funds will be used to finance advanced research positions in radiation biology, radiation dosimetry, and radioecology at universities. The primary focus is to maintain competence in radiation protection. Part of the new funds will also be used to give research grants after application.

SKB is conducting a large research programme for developing methods for safe disposal of spent fuel. The research programme is conducted in collaboration with universities, institutes of technology and research institutions, both in Sweden and abroad.

No planning or research is currently performed regarding new NPPs in Sweden.

The international nuclear safety co-operation has a large and increasing volume. SSM is involved in about 140 international groups at different levels. Most of the reactor-safety co-operation takes place within the frameworks of IAEA, OECD/NEA and EU, but also occurs in connection with the international conventions ratified by Sweden and within associations such as the Western European Nuclear Regulators’ Association (WENRA) and the International Nuclear Regulators’ Association (INRA). In addition to these multilateral contexts, SSM has bilateral agreements with a number of countries to exchange information and to co-operate on technical issues as agreed. Sweden has a relatively high profile in the international technical groups. SSM considers active international involvement to be important for the quality of the national safety and radiation protection work, as well as to contribute to the development of international standards and the international knowledge base. In the field of radiation protection, Sweden has been active for many years in the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and in working groups of NEA, IAEA and the EU. International agreements exist with authorities and technical support bodies in Europe and Asia as well as in the USA, in areas such as emergency preparedness, occupational exposure, environmental radiological protection and radioactive waste management. Sweden is also a member of ISOE (Information System on Occupational Exposure).

The Swedish utilities are involved in international co-operation through membership in WANO, in owners group associations of the major European and USA vendors, and by participation in the European Utilities Requirements project, IAEA activities, and various task forces representing most of the disciplines in nuclear facilities.

KSU analyses and evaluates operating experience gained at other NPPs worldwide which can benefit the operation of the Swedish plants. KSU is also the main communication channel between the Swedish utilities and WANO.

SKB has a broad network of international contacts. Formal co-operation agreements exist with the following organizations:

• CEC/EURATOM EU

• TVO/IVO Finland

• CEA/ANDRA France

• JNFL Japan

• AECL Canada

• Nagra Switzerland

• USDOE USA

The following organizations have signed agreements of participation with SKB in the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory project: Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), Power Reactor & Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC) of Japan, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) of Japan, ANDRA of France, TVO of Finland, NIREX of UK, USDOE, and Nagra of Switzerland.

Since 1 July 2008, Sweden has an integrated regulatory authority for nuclear safety and radiation protection, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM). SSM is a merger of the two earlier regulatory bodies, the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI) and the Radiation Protection Authority (SSI). SSM has taken over all the missions and tasks of the two earlier authorities.

SSM has a staff of approximately 290, and is organised under a Director General in three main departments (NPP Safety, Radioactive Materials and Radiation Protection) and an International Secretariat.

SSM is financed through the state budget, but about 70% of the SSM budget is recovered from licensees by various fees, and 30% is covered by taxes. About 95% of the fees are collected from nuclear facilities, while the remaining part is collected from hospitals and industry with activities falling under the Radiation Protection Act. Standard fees are regulated in Ordinance (2008:463) about certain fees to the Radiation Safety Authority:

SSM’s roles and responsibilities are defined in the Ordinance 2008:452, amended by 2011:1589, with instruction for the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority. The Ordinance states that SSM is the central administrative authority for issues dealing with protection of people and the environment against harmful effects of ionising and non-ionising radiation, safety of nuclear activities and nuclear non-proliferation. Hence, the area of responsibility includes regulation of all areas of nuclear activity in Sweden, including physical protection and transport issues. Generally, the authority shall actively promote improved radiation safety in society and work to:

• prevent radiological accidents and ensure radiation-safe operation and waste handling within nuclear activities

• minimize risks and optimize effects of medical exposures

• minimize risks of occupational exposures

• minimize risks of exposures from naturally-occurring sources

• improve radiation safety internationally

SSM is mandated to issue legally binding regulations within its activity areas. In addition, the following more-detailed tasks are mentioned in the Ordinance:

• handle certain financial issues with regard to future costs for residual products from nuclear activities and liaison with the Nuclear Waste Fund,

• responsibility for the national metrology laboratory for ionising radiation,

• administer the national dose register and issue dose passports,

• contribute to development of national competence within the activity area,

• provide information to the public within the activity area,

• handle international issues within the activity area,

• co-ordinate national emergency preparedness within the activity area,

• provide advice on radiation protection and decontamination in cases of emergency,

• maintain and manage a national expert organisation in cases of emergency,

• provide technical advice to responsible authorities for protective actions in cases of emergency

SSM is further involved in international development co-operation with Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia.

SSM reports to the Government through the Ministry of Environment.

The Act (1984:3) on Nuclear Activities includes the basic legal requirements for licensing, and the legal sanctions to be imposed on anyone who conducts nuclear activities without a license. For major installations and activities, the license is granted by the Government upon a written recommendation from the regulatory body. An application for a permit to construct, possess or operate a nuclear installation shall, along with the particular documents concerning construction and nuclear safety, contain an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Procedures regarding the EIA are laid down in the Environmental Code. These provisions are also applicable in the licensing procedures according to the Act on Nuclear Activities. The EIA aims to facilitate an overall assessment of the planned operation's effects on the environment, health and management of natural resources, thus providing a better basis for the decision.

SSM is given the mandate to decide upon license conditions for nuclear safety and radiation protection. Previously, this mandate was given by the Government in every particular license, but according to a legal amendment on 1 July 2006, SSM now has a continuous and general mandate to decide such conditions for all sorts of licenses issued under the Act on Nuclear Activities.

For all the existing Swedish NPPs, the licenses are valid without time limit, although licensing conditions can be limited in time and function as control stations. If the licensee complies with all legally-binding safety requirements, a prolongation of the license cannot be denied in principle.

If a licensee fails to comply with conditions attached to the license or with safety obligations arising in any other manner under the Act on Nuclear Activities, the Government or the regulatory body has the authority to revoke the license altogether. The decision lies with the authority that has issued the particular license. Revoking a license for other reasons than safety, as in the Barsebäck 1 and 2 cases, requires a special law.

There is a legally binding requirement to conduct a periodic safety review of every major nuclear installation every 10 years of operation. The purpose of this review and its regulatory assessment is to determine whether the installation still complies with all regulations and licensing conditions, and that safety is developing as required. SSM regards the periodic safety reviews as time-limited licensing conditions.

For these reasons, the concept of “Lifetime Extension” has no formal meaning in Sweden. The expression “40 years technical lifetime” is used in a non-formal way, mostly by the licensees in their long-term planning. The plants will be made fit for 40 years operation and beyond. The background of this expression is the assumption that on-going and planned modernisations increase the technical lifetime of the plants. Originally, when designing the plants, 40 years was an assumed technical lifetime, “guaranteed” with large margins for the major passive structures and components. Today, based on international operational experience, technical lifetime for similar rector designs is expected to be 50 to 60 years.