Blykalla submits second SMR plant application

The application follows an earlier one, submitted in May, for a six-unit project in Norrsundet in the Gävle municipality, which is also in the same region of east central Sweden.

Jacob Stedman, CEO of Blykalla, pictured above with Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari, said: "We continue to identify locations across Sweden where advanced nuclear power will deliver the greatest value. Our reactors make it possible to build nuclear power where and when it’s needed - closer to industry, in new municipalities and inland locations where traditional nuclear power has historically not been possible."

Blykalla - formerly called LeadCold - is a spin-off from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, where lead-cooled reactor systems have been under development since 1996. The company - founded in 2013 as a joint stock company - is developing the SEALER (Swedish Advanced Lead Reactor). The company's goal is for its first 140 MWt/55 MWe SEALER-55 commercial reactor to be ready for operation in the early 2030s.

Background

In May last year, Sweden's parliament, the Riksdag, approved the government's proposals for providing state aid to companies that want to invest in new nuclear reactors in the country. The loans - aimed at lowering the cost of financing new nuclear - will be limited to the equivalent of four large-scale reactors (about 5000 MWe of capacity). The government noted that support may only be granted if the new reactors are sited at the same location and have a total installed output of at least 300 MWe. Two-way Contracts for Difference may be entered into once a new reactor has become operational and has been licensed to produce electricity at full capacity. The new act on state aid entered into force on 1 August, since when interested companies have been able to apply for the aid.

The Swedish government received the first such application in December, from Videberg Kraft, for its scheme which is proposing to use Rolls-Royce SMR technology. As well as Blykalla's first application in May, in June Studsvik submitted an application to the Swedish government for state support for up to 1,400 MW of new nuclear power, featuring small modular reactors, and a fourth application followed from Nordic Baseload Power for the construction of two large-scale reactors at the Barsebäck site, where two reactors are being decommissioned.