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Education and training

No institution in the country offers a Bachelor’s in the nuclear field.

Master’s degrees are offered by: the Chalmers University (Master in Nuclear Engineering) and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology/Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan Universitet (Master in Nuclear Energy Engineering).

At the Doctorate level, the KTH Royal Institute of Technology manages a PhD programme (precisely it’s Department of Nuclear Reactor Physics) and the Uppsala University/Uppsala Universitet offers a PhD degree in Nuclear and Particle Physics.

In the nuclear research field, these institutions are involved: the Chalmers University (its Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, its Fundamental Physics Department and its Nuclear Engineering Department), the KTH Royal Institute of Technology (its Department of Nuclear and Reactor Physics and the Swedish Centre for Nuclear Technology), the Lund University/Lunds Universitet (the MAX-lab - National Electron Accelerator Laboratory for Synchrotron Radiation Research, Nuclear Physics and Accelerator Physics), the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority/Stral Säkerhets Myndigheten, and the Uppsala University/Uppsala Universitet (its Division of Nuclear and Particle Physics).

Human resources and knowledge management

Currently there are 10 nuclear reactors operating on 3 sites: Ringhals (3 PWRs and 1 BWR), Forsmark (3 BWRs), and Oskarsham (3 BWRs). Together they provide almost half of the country’s electricity needs.

In 1980 following a referendum, it was decided that no new nuclear power plants would be built and that nuclear power phase-out would be completed by 2010. However, in February 2009, the Swedish government announced that a nuclear new-build would be considered as part of a new plan to increase energy supplies and security as well as to combat global warming.

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority/Stral Säkerhets Myndigheten (SSM) is the country’s regulatory body. The 1947-established AB Atomic Energy/AB Atomenergi (which is now called Studsvik AB) is the atomic energy research organization in Sweden.