Swedish dams, dam safety and public safety around dams

There are an estimated 10 000 dams in Sweden, of varying size, type and age. Of these, 190 are hydropower dams classified internationally as large dams. Some of the hydropower dams are very old but most of them were built later than 1950. Swedish dams are under upgrading to meet now industry safety guidelines RIDAS including new guidelines on design floods. An extensive program of upgrading the dams to implement the guidelines is underway. Sweden has no specific law on dam safety for the time being. There are regulations on dam safety in several regulatory frameworks. The Swedish regulatory system is under revision. Public Safety around dams is of growing interest in Europe and around the world.