Swedish energy company and parent of the firm that runs the Forsmark nuclear power plant, Vattenfall, has reported that the troubled facility has been running for seven months with inappropriate materials inside one of its reactor units.
<p>According to a statement from Vattenfall, for seven months Forsmark Kraftgrupp has operated reactor 1 with a rubber packing inside the reactor containment which had not been controlled in accordance with the internal routines.<br /><br />That is not acceptable and I have informed the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspection general director Judith Melin, emphasizing that I regard what has happened as most disturbing, said Hans von Uthmann, senior executive vice president of Vattenfall and nominated as chairman of the Forsmark Kraftgrupp board. <br /><br />A test rubber sample was taken during routine revision last June. When the test result had been analyzed, it was clear that the elasticity of the rubber packing was insufficient, and the reactor was closed down on February 2, 2007. <br /><br />The rubber packing will now be changed with the work estimated to take at least three weeks. Meanwhile, test results from Forsmark 2 showed that the rubber packing in the reactor containment is fully operable. Therefore, Forsmark 2 will be taken into operation during the next few days.</p>