Investigation of the siting process of Swedish nuclear power plants using GIS

Abstract: In order to find the optimal placement for a nuclear power plant (NPP) many different factors have to be taken into consideration. Choosing the wrong location could result in higher construction costs and/or taking avoidable risks. GIS can be used to compare different spatial criteria efficiently. There are currently six nuclear reactors operating in Sweden, producing approximately 40% of the total electricity produced in the country every year. These reactors are divided over three nuclear power plants: Ringhals, Forsmark and Oskarshamn. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the suitability of existing NPPs location in Sweden according to the current standards and guidelines and find good potential sites for a new hypothetical NPP in Sweden. The thesis is limited to investigate the geographical aspects of siting an NPP, and therefore economic decisions and law restrictions will have less impact on the end result. The methodology of the thesis is in line with International Atomic Energy Agency’s step by step siting procedure that includes a site survey in which candidate areas are derived using a set of exclusionary and avoidance criteria. This is followed by the comparison and ranking of these sites by implementing a suitability analysis in the site selection process to derive potential sites. The site survey process result in a map layer containing the candidate areas that fulfills the spectre of exclusionary and avoidance criteria set by the analyst. The site selection process includes weighting criteria compared to each other using the analytic hierarchy process which is based on the perceived importance of each criterion. The criteria are found in an initial study of available literature. Based on the gathered information, data is collected to execute the analysis in ArcMap. Both vector operations and raster calculations are made to produce the end result map layers. The analysis shows that Forsmark is the most suitable location for an NPP among the existing sites. Neither of the existing sites is considered a candidate site, but that depends heavily on how strict the avoidance criteria is set. Three candidate areas were chosen to be further investigated; Sjötorp, Mariefred and Vanneberga. Between these three Sjötorp was determined to be the most suitable location to site an NPP. One conclusion that can be drawn is that more knowledge in the nuclear power industry and more insight in the weighting part would probably lead to more accurate results. It is hard to know how accurate the model is but it could definitely be used and modified for further studies, either with the same goal in mind or with a different goal and modified criteria.