Sweden's ageing nuclear reactors will likely pass the stress tests imposed by the European Commission in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan, a senior official at the country's nuclear safety watchdog said on Friday.
On Thursday, 14 countries which operate nuclear reactors submitted interim results to the Commission, details of which will be published at an EU leaders summit in Brussels in December.
"I think they will pass," said Jan Hanberg, an official at the department for nuclear plants' safety at the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority.
"The oldest reactors have undergone a safety modernisation programme. I think they have improved their safety to the same level, more or less, than the newer plants," he told Reuters.
Hanberg said interim results presented to the Commission on Thursday was a progress report that did not include the results of the tests' safety assessment.
"We will see those results in at least two to three weeks' time from now," he said.
Sweden produces 40 percent of its energy via nuclear power. The country has 10 reactors, spread over three plants, which are operated by Vattenfall and Germany's E.ON .
Sweden's oldest reactors, Oskarshamn 1 and 2 together with Ringhals 1 and 2, were built in the 1970s.
