Sweden has announced plans to build 10 more nuclear reactors, doubling the number available in the country. “Climate transition requires doubling electricity production over the next 20 years,” said Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari, who announced the plan on Wednesday (August 9th). Liberal said that to achieve this goal, the government is moving forward with a bill that would remove the ceiling of 10 reactors in the country and the requirement that new reactors be built at the same locations as existing reactors. room in autumn. The minister, who was the youngest person elected to the post in the country when he was appointed at the age of 26, said that the current limitations “prevented a modern view of nuclear energy” and added that the new building process was there. plants will also be simplified.
When Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s Moderate Party formed a government last October with the far-right formation of the Christian Democrats, Liberals and Sweden Democrats, the coalition decided to authorize more reactors and make profitable investments in the sector by lending. imposing warranties and price changes. “This government has worked hard since day one to remove the barriers erected to prevent the construction of new nuclear power plants,” Pourmokhtari said. and nuclear plays a decisive role in our success”.
The Scandinavian country, the birthplace of environmentalist lover Greta Thunberg, voted to phase out nuclear power in a non-binding referendum in 1980. Since then, Stockholm has shut down six of its 12 reactors. The remainder, now split into three nuclear power plants at Forsmark, Oskarshamn and Ringhals, produce about 30% of the electricity used in the country today.
However, Sweden has struggled to find suitable alternative energy sources to replace nuclear energy, and renewable energy sources still cannot fully meet its needs. In 2016, with the consent of a large political majority, Stockholm decided to extend nuclear power for the foreseeable future, paving the way for the construction of new reactors to replace old reactors at the end of their useful life. Existing reactors were opened in the 1970s and 1980s, and most have a lifespan of around 40 years and therefore need modernisation.
The European Union’s Fit for 55 plan calls for member states to reduce emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and to be “climate neutral” by 2050. There is a strong debate about whether nuclear falls within the scope of climate-neutral energy. , because if it is true that these facilities do not produce emissions, it is also true that they produce waste that is very difficult, if not impossible, to dispose of, and therefore they are certainly not environmentally neutral. .
Because of this, the plan has received various criticisms from ecologists. Lars J. Nilsson, professor at Lund University and member of the European climate advisory board, described the move as “symbolic”. “It cannot be said with certainty that we need 10 new reactors. The expansion of electricity generation in Sweden right now is due to wind power,” he told the Guardian. “I don’t expect any new nuclear power plants in Sweden unless the government provides sweeping guarantees.” To him, the movement is more of a front than anything else, arguing that it wants to show that the government is taking action to meet its climate goals. “I see it more as a symbolic move than creating real change.”
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Source: Today IT
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
