Restart of Sweden's Ringhals 4 nuclear reactor delayed to end-November

The extended outage comes at a critical time as energy prices soar across Europe and all output is much sought-after . "In connection with a mandatory test at start-up after the month-long shutdown, the plant's pressure vessel was damaged," it said in a separate statement on Wednesday.

The restart of Swedish nuclear reactor Ringhals 4 following maintenance work is delayed by three months after a key component was damaged and requires extensive repair.

Ringhals said late on Tuesday it now expected the reactor, which was shut down for annual maintenance and fuel replacement mid-August, to restart electricity production Nov 30. The extended outage comes at a critical time as energy prices soar across Europe and all output is much sought-after .

"In connection with a mandatory test at start-up after the month-long shutdown, the plant's pressure vessel was damaged," it said in a separate statement on Wednesday. "It is very unfortunate that Ringhals 4 will be idle for a longer period than planned. We will do our utmost to restore the facility so that electricity production can restart," it added.

Ringhals said the incident at the reactor, which has an installed capacity of 1,130 megawatt electrical (MWe), had no impact on reactor safety. The 84-tonne pressure vessel serves to prevent the water from not boiling despite high temperatures in the reactor, which is located on Sweden's west coast.