Sweden shuts down last reactor at Barseback

A controversial nuclear power station in south-western Sweden was finally being shut down today, decades after Swedes voted to phase out atomic energy.

The final reactor at the Barseback plant, across a narrow waterway from the Danish capital, was to be closed down at midnight (11pm Irish time), cutting the electricity flowing from the plant. The long-planned move follows a court decision not to hear arguments from Swedish citizens who alleged the shutdown was illegal.

The shutdown of Barseback’s second reactor is part of a government programme to decrease dependency on atomic power. The plant’s first reactor was closed in 1999.

The 30-year-old power station has angered residents of Copenhagen, with a population of some 2 million, and the plant’s closure has long been demanded by nuclear-free Denmark, only 25 miles west of Barseback. Swedish anti-nuclear campaigners also pressed for the plant to be shut after Swedes voted in 1980 to stop using nuclear power.

In the hours before shutdown, many Danes were rejoicing.

“The 30-year war against Barseback is over,” said Terje Haaland of Greenpeace Denmark. “However, this is just the beginning, there are 10 remaining plants in Sweden and more throughout the Nordic and Baltic region.”

Svend Auken, a former Danish environment minister and one of the most ardent Barseback critics, thanked Sweden for closing the plant.

“A serious mistake has been corrected,” Auken, wrote in a comment in the Ekstra Bladet tabloid today.

In Sweden – where recent opinion polls show that a vast majority are in favour of keeping nuclear power – many have expressed concern that the shutdown will increase electricity prices.

“It’s sad that the plant will not be allowed to run as long as it’s profitable,” Hans Andersson, a shift manager at Barseback, told news agency TT.

About one third of the plant’s 348 employees will keep working at the facility. The plant, which is the size of about 200 soccer fields, will not be torn down until 2020 at the earliest.

Sweden has 10 nuclear plants providing 50% of its electricity, but the government plans to phase them out over the coming decades. Barseback was originally meant to close in 2003.