M/S ''Sigyn'' was a

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

that transported spent

nuclear fuel Nuclear fuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclear fuel undergoes nuclear fission. Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements that are capable of undergoing ...

and nuclear waste from

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...

s to

Clab The Clab, also known as ''Centralt mellanlager för använt kärnbränsle'' (Swedish for 'Central holding storage for spent nuclear fuel') is an interim radioactive waste repository located at Oskarshamn Nuclear Power Plant about 25 km north o ...

, the storage facility at Oskarshamn and the waste facilities at Studsvik and Forsmark. She was named after the

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...

Sigyn, the

mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

wife of

Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi or Na ...

. Her name alluded to the role Sigyn played in holding a cup over the fettered Loki, catching the

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

dripping from a

viper The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs tha ...

perched above him. ''Sigyn'' was built in 1982 by the French ''Société Nouvelle des Ateliers et Chantiers du Havre'' at

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

, and could transport up to ten containers for spent fuel or radioactive waste. The ship could also take one or two vehicles or standard

shipping containers A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of ...

for low-level waste. A stern ramp enabled roll-on/roll-off loading and unloading from the long cargo deck. ''Sigyn'' was owned by ''Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB'' (SKB) (

Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (Svensk Kärnbränslehantering Aktiebolag, abbreviated SKB) is a company founded by the Swedish nuclear power industry. Among its primary operations are the management and disposal of nuclear ...

), but was operated and staffed by ''Furetank Rederi AB'' (Furetank Shipping Company) In December 2010 it was announced that SKB have ordered a new ship from the Dutch Damen Group to replace ''Sigyn''. The new ship named ''Sigrid'', was laid down in

Galați Galați (, , ; also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River. It has been the only port for the most par ...

, Romania, in December 2011, and was delivered in May 2013. In October 2012 this new Nuclear Cargo Vessel 1600 was launched.

References

1982 ships Radioactive waste Nuclear technology in Sweden {{ship-stub