A ban against building new Swedish nuclear power plants is to be scrapped, revoking a 1980 referendum decision to phase out nuclear power, the Swedish centre-right government said Thursday, according to DPA. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and the leaders of the three other parties in the coalition described the deal that was included in a sustainable energy and climate policy as "historic." The government that took office in October 2006 had initially agreed not to discuss building more reactors or decommissioning any of the 10 reactors currently operated during its current four-year term. The debate about climate change and need to secure long-term energy production however forced the re-think. The agreement was seen as a sizeable concession by the Centre Party that in the 1970s was an outspoken opponent of nuclear power -an issue that triggered the collapse of one non-socialist coalition government in that decade. Centre Party leader Maud Olofsson, who is also minister for energy and enterprise, told reporters she could "live with the fact that nuclear power would remain part of the energy system. "The row over energy policy during all these years has been paralyzing for those who want to invest, for employment and for the political debate," Olofsson said. Olofsson said that while her party remained skeptical to nuclear power, "we need a compromise" and the deal also set up "ambitious climate goals." The goals included reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent as of 2020, that 50 per cent of energy production would derive from renewable sources like wind and wave power, and 10 per cent of the transport sector would rely on renewables. Sweden aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 million tons compared to the 1990 level, of which two-thirds in Sweden. Reinfeldt said fuel taxes would likely increase as a result of hiked carbon-dioxide fees, but no estimates for the cost had been made. Liberal Party leader Jan Bjorklund, who has pushed for new reactors, hailed the agreement as "good for Sweden, good for jobs" and energy-dependent industry sectors like steel and paper. Bjorklund said that at most 10 nuclear reactors would be operated at the same time. "It would likely take 13, 15 years before a new reactor is built," Bjorklund said citing the time needed to pass legislation and secure permits. Any new reactors would be built on the three current nuclear plant sites, Bjorklund said, adding that possible new reactors were not to receive state subsidies. Bjorklund also questioned "if there was free competition" in the current ownership structure of nuclear power reactors where three energy groups owned stakes in plants operated by other groups, referring to state-controlled Vattenfall, Germany's E.O N and Finland's Fortum.
