Foam and beer grav when the reactor is closed

New Years Eve 2020 is marked by pride and sadness at the Ringhals nuclear power plant. After 45 years in service and electricity production roughly equivalent to what all of Gothenburg has consumed during the same period, Ringhals 1 is going to the grave.

Annika Ljungberg has been working with radiation protection at the nuclear power plant since 2011. “There isn’t a corner” on Ringhals 1 that she hasn’t been inside.

READ MORE: Ringhals closure costs billions

She says it’s a sad day, even though her and the rest of the staff’s feelings were even stronger a year ago when Ringhals 2 was closed.

– It was a bigger shock. Now it is somehow that we go down as usual, we follow our routines and nothing has changed. It may be in a month that it feels a little strange not to get up again, he says.

READ MORE: Ringhals 2 has retired

READ MORE: October 15: Can the Swedish electricity grid handle the power supply of the future?

Close before midnight

During the day, the power in the reactor is reduced and no later than a minute before midnight, the control rods are pushed all the way and the night shift shuts down the reactor for the last time.

Like a year ago, there are cooling drinks to toast the reactor.

– We don’t drink alcohol at Ringhals now, but there are non-alcoholic variants. But the feeling is both, and you can celebrate what you’ve done and allow yourself to think that it’s not all great fun, even if you now wanted to keep driving, says Björn Linde, CEO of Ringhals.

The shutdown comes at a time when nuclear power is being talked about more often than in a long time. The Chernobyl miniseries with Swedish director Johan Renck had a huge impact last year and in recent years public opinion on nuclear power has been rekindled.

Björn Linde believes that there has been a different acceptance of nuclear energy in the debate in recent years.

– Nuclear power, and existing nuclear power, is the most environmentally friendly thing you can do from a carbon dioxide perspective if you want to produce electricity. We’ve known about it at Ringhals for all these years, but I think now the debate has come up as well. So you can be for or against nuclear power with the potential risks that exist. That’s another question, he says.

Many questions for employees

Annika Ljungberg also believes that it is good that it is being discussed. Those who work within Ringhals are used to receiving questions on the subject.

– There is always a debate. After a beer on a Friday night, you know it’s coming. But everyone who works here is well educated. That is also what makes this pride. You have chosen to work here and have learned a lot about your own company many times, even in the branches of technology where you do not work, precisely because you know there are very emotional issues, says Annika Ljungberg.

From the outside, very little will change in the near future. Decommissioning starts from the inside and the distinctive square building that makes up Ringhals 1 will be part of the nuclear power plant’s horizon for at least another ten years.

Melancholy has turned to pride

However, the closure means that the workforce is further reduced. When the decision to close Ringhals 2 was made, approximately 1,600 people were working at Ringhals. Today, there are just under 1,200 employees and by 2023, there will be about 900 people left.

But Annika Ljungberg will continue to work with Ringhals 3 and 4, which are scheduled to be in operation until at least the 2040s.

And although the sadness is there, she says that she and her companions have accepted the situation.

– Ideally, you would have wanted to continue producing electricity, but you accept the decision and understand it. You may think it’s too much, in pure Swedish, but the sadness has been there for a few years and now it’s the pride you feel. We are mentally prepared for this, he says.

READ MORE: During New Year’s Eve, Ringhals 1 closes permanently

READ MORE: Ringhals 2 has retired