Nuclear reactors in Sweden can run longer

The state-owned power company Vattenfall stated in its business plan Wednesday that five of Sweden’s nuclear reactors can run for 60 years because of new investments, rather than 50 years, as the limit had previously been set.
The reactors they say will be able to run longer, into the 2040s, are at Forsmark, plus Ringhals 3 and 4, which were built in the ’80s.
However, Sweden’s minister on environment issues, Lena Ek, is not convinced that the security of these reactors can be guaranteed for that long. She tells Swedish Radio News, “We can’t know that yet, because we don’t know how the building plans look, what kind of technology they’re thinking of using, and what improvements have to happen.”
Vattenfall believes it would be too expensive to extend the lifespan of the older reactors, numbers 1 and 2 at Ringhals, which were built in the mid 70s, beyond their lifespan of 50 years.