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R4 nuclear reactor was a
nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a Nuclear fission, fission nuclear chain reaction. They are used for Nuclear power, commercial electricity, nuclear marine propulsion, marine propulsion, Weapons-grade plutonium, weapons ...
built at Marviken, Vikbolandet and the fourth nuclear reactor built in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
. It was
heavy water Heavy water (deuterium oxide, , ) is a form of water (molecule), water in which hydrogen atoms are all deuterium ( or D, also known as ''heavy hydrogen'') rather than the common hydrogen-1 isotope (, also called ''protium'') that makes up most o ...
moderated and intended for the dual role of of power generation as well as
plutonium Plutonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is a silvery-gray actinide metal that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four ...
production. It had a central role in the Swedish nuclear weapon programme. During the mid 1960s, the
social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
government officially abandoned the project of designing Swedish nuclear weapons and the Marviken plant became derelict. It was never loaded with fuel, and the project was cancelled in 1970.


Experimental site

The situation that the reactor was nearly completed, but never loaded with fuel, made it possible to use the plant for advanced international experiments during late 1970s and early 1980s, simulating various aspects of accident scenarios in nuclear power plants. Four series of experiments were performed: * MARVIKEN-FSCB-I/II, Marviken Full Scale Containment Blowdown experiments Series I/II - where the pressure-suppression principle with a condensation pool, used by nearly all BWR-reactors in the world, was tested. In a reactor with this design steam from postulated pipe breaks is directed down to a condensation pool, which causes the steam to condense which limits the pressure increase in the containment during such an accident scenario. This design make it possible to reduce the size of a BWR-containment. * MARVIKEN-ATT, Marviken Aerosol Transport Test experiments - where migration and distribution of aerosols in a containment was studied, which is important for assessing accident scenarios with significant fuel melting, "core-melts". * MARVIKEN-CFT, Marviken Full Scale Critical Flow Tests - where tests were performed for quantifying steam flows from pipe breaks * MARVIKEN-JIT, Marviken Full Scale Jet Impingement Tests experiments - where tests were performed for assessing to what extent the steam jet from a pipe break can damage nearby equipment. Large amounts of data were collected and are archived at OECD/NEA, and have been used for validation of computer simulation codes for nuclear power plants.


Conversion to fossil-fuel plant

When the construction of the nuclear reactor was finally stopped 1970 a boiler house and an oil fired steam boiler was built. This made it possible to use the non-nuclear parts of the power station as well as the connecting power grid line. Since the turbine was optimized for the comparably low steam temperature and pressure from a nuclear reactor the efficiency of the oil fired plant became low (approximately 30 percent) compared to conventional fossil-fuel fired plants which may have efficiencies of 40 or even close to 50 percent. Hence the plant was only used as a peak load plant. The oil fired boiler had a thermal power of approximately at an oil consumption of , and the corresponding electrical power was approximately . The plant was in operation until March 2009, but has since been decommissioned.


Conversion to green field

The Nuclear reactor, the oil fired power station and surrounding 250 hectares of land and water was acquired by Synthesis Real Estate during 2018. Synthesis Analytics is building a computing center to leverage the vast access to energy (due to the extensive connections to the Swedish power grid) while Synthesis Real Estate will develop an Archipelago City heated by the surplus heat from the computing center.


In popular culture

The nuclear reactor at Marviken plays a big role in Swedish thriller/sci-fi writer 's 2020 novel ().


References


External links


List of major nuclear safety-related experimental facilities
{{coord, 58, 33, 11, N, 16, 49, 58, E, region:SE_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki, display=title Heavy-water reactors Unfinished nuclear reactors Military nuclear reactors Nuclear weapons programme of Sweden Defunct nuclear reactors 1970 disestablishments in Sweden Norrköping Municipality 20th-century disestablishments in Östergötland County