NMP is used in battery manufacturing. It is a toxic solvent that can cause birth defects, corrosives and damage the respiratory tract. It is so dangerous that the EU has restricted its use.
Recently, it has been reported several times in the media that personnel at Northvolt have been exposed to leaks of NMP in various places in the factory.
– If the exposure is so high that a hospital visit is needed, something is wrong. The restriction that exists in the EU is based on there being no exposure that leads to any risks, says Bert-Ove Lund, toxicologist at the Chemicals Inspectorate.
And now documentation at Northvolt, which SVT has seen, shows that the facility that receives and stores NMP at the factory is built incorrectly.
The system cannot withstand the cold in Norrland
The building where the tanks and pipes with NMP are located is not heated. Instead, the temperature of the chemical is regulated with water pipes and district heating. The only problem is that the system cannot withstand the cold in Skellefteå.
The system has frozen several times and both water and NMP have leaked from the pipes. Last winter, large parts of the floor in the building were covered in ice and NMP. It is also difficult to see exactly where the pipes are leaking because they are covered with insulation.
The County Administrative Board in Västerbotten, which is responsible for environmental supervision and to which Northvolt has reported NMP leakage that had other causes, has not been made aware of the incorrectly built and leaking facility, administrators told SVT.
After the last winter, when it was minus 35 degrees three days in a row in Skellefteå and colder than minus 30 more days than that, the facility with NMP must now be rebuilt, according to the information to SVT.
Northvolt: Detailed risk assessments
Northvolt does not want to answer questions in an interview, but writes in an email that the company makes detailed risk assessments, has several safety barriers if one does not work, and that emissions reported to the county administrative board were handled according to permits and in some cases did not get into the environment.
The company writes that the facility is built for the climate in Skellefteå, that leaks in the part of the building that receives NMP are not related to the facility’s design, but that preventive measures have been taken.