The Barsebäck station has two ABB-designed 600-MW boiling water reactor units. Barsebäck-1 was permanently shut down in November 1999 and Barsebäck-2 in May 2005.
Sweden’s government decided in 1997 that both units should be closed. Operator Barsebäck Kraft AB appealed and the closures were delayed.
In a separate move, more than 300 people lodged unsuccessful appeals to the supreme administrative court against the decision to close Barsebäck-2, including officials from the local municipality who claimed the closure violated Swedish environmental and industrial laws and EU legislation.
The closure of Barsebäck-2 was finally confirmed in October 2004 following what the government described as failure to reach an agreement with the power industry on the details and timetable for a voluntary phase-out of Sweden’s nuclear facilities. The government had also been under political pressure from neighbouring Denmark.
Barsebäck-1 had closed permanently in November 1999 under a cash and shares compensation deal with owners Sydkraft, which has since become art of the Uniper group.
Since 2006, the station has been free of nuclear fuel. A new intermediate warehouse was built at the site in 2016, where internal parts of the reactors will be stored until they can be transported to a future final repository.
