Nuvia, a subsidiary of France's Vinci construction group, has been awarded a contract by Vattenfall to remove, inspect and sort the radioactive and other materials currently inside the reactor buildings of units 1 and 2 at the Ringhals nuclear power plant in Sweden.

The signing of the contract (Image: Nuvia)

The works on site are planned to be carried out from mid-2025 to 2031, will mobilise up to 400 people and involve the processing of more than 30,000 tonnes of materials.

This work will prepare for the future conventional demolition of the reinforced-concrete structures of the two units. Vattenfall estimates that the entire demolition process will take around 8-10 years.

Vinci noted that Nuvia - which is active in Sweden through its subsidiary Nuvia Nordic AB - has participated in most of the country's nuclear dismantling projects so far. In 2022, Nuvia was awarded the contract to dismantle the large elements of the primary circuit of one of the plant's two units.

Ringhals 1 is a boiling water reactor built in 1969 by ASEA Atom, while Ringhals 2 is a pressurised water reactor built in 1970 by Westinghouse.

Ringhals 1 and 2 were closed at the end of 2020 and 2019, respectively - several years earlier than planned due to the economic impact of punitive taxes. When it announced its intention to close the plants, in 2015, Vattenfall said, "Market conditions and the impact of the high output tax have prompted us to limit investments in Ringhals 1 and 2." The final decision was made in October 2015. Two other reactors will continue to operate at Ringhals until the early 2040s.

In August 2021, Vattenfall awarded a contract to Westinghouse for the segmentation and disposal of the reactor pressure vessels, internals and fuel racks at Ringhals 1 and 2.