Sweden will begin construction on a new nuclear reactor before the country’s next legislative election in 2026, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in an interview published on Friday.
His right-wing coalition government, propped up by the far-right Sweden Democrats, has vowed to massively ramp up nuclear energy in Sweden but a formal decision on the type of reactor to be built has yet to be taken.
The government said in November 2023 it wanted to increase nuclear power production equivalent to two nuclear reactors by 2035, with a “massive expansion” to follow by 2045.
State-owned utility Vattenfall is in the process of conducting a feasibility study on the construction of at least two small modular reactors (SMRs) at the Ringhals nuclear power station in the southwest of the country.
It aims to put the first one into commission in the first half of the 2030s.
It has begun acquiring land in the area but has not yet applied for environmental permits.
Asked by daily Dagens Nyheter if construction would begin before the next general election, Kristersson replied: “Yes, it will.”
“The decisions required to build new nuclear power will have been taken….