  Oskarshamn, where over 6 percent of Sweden\'s electricity is generated | Credit: WNN
By Brenda Sorensen
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
STOCKHOLM (IDN) - Nuclear energy is not being consigned to museums in Sweden. On the contrary, new atomic power plants will be permitted from next year. Overturning the decision of a referendum 30 years ago, the national parliament Riksdag has voted to allow Swedish firms to replace the existing ten reactors that provide over 40 percent of the country's electricity.
The 1980 decision offered three different ways to end nuclear power but none to allow it to continue normally. In the intervening years Swedish utilities have concentrated on maintaining and upgrading the ten reactors at Forsmark, Oskarshamn and Ringhals, adding 1050 MWe in extra generating capacity.
Two reactors at Barsebäck were shut down early because of political pressure from neighbouring Denmark leading to a net loss of only about 200 MWe.
The bill passed June 17, 2010 will come into effect on January 1, 2011, said a Riksdag statement, noting the Business and Industry Committee's determination that new nuclear power would be given no subsidy.
Despite ushering in what the World Nuclear News calls new era for Swedish nuclear power, the new rules still contain restrictions. For example, new reactors are permitted only at the sites of existing three power plants and a new reactor may begin operation only when an older one is permanently shut down. None of the current fleet is expected to be replaced before the 2030s.
This framework would limit the role nuclear power can play to the traditional position it already holds by encouraging utilities to build only the largest designs of 1600-1800 MWe that will be available in coming years. It would rule out the future use of small or modular nuclear systems in remote regions or for industrial cogeneration, while no early Generation-IV reactors would be likely to boast large enough generating capacities.
However, how long the new legislation will remain in force is far from certain. It was approved by only 174 to 172, and opposition and Green politicians have already pledged to try to re-instate old laws if and when they gain power.
The parliament's decision comes nearly 18 months after a policy document released in February 2009 underscored the significance of nuclear power as an important part of Swedish electricity production for the foreseeable future.
This was part of what the government called a "long-term, sustainable energy and climate policy" with the vision of an efficient and sustainable Sweden by 2050 with no net emissions of greenhouse gases.
Sweden has 10 nuclear power reactors providing over 40 percent of its electricity. A 1980 referendum canvassed three options for phasing out nuclear power, but none for continuing it.
Sweden's 1997 energy policy retains most of the country's nuclear plants but has resulted in premature closure of a two-unit plant.
Sweden has a tax discriminating against nuclear power -– now about 0.67 Euro cents/kWh.
Sweden's electricity consumption has been rising and it has one of the world's highest individual levels of consumption. Over 40 percent of domestic production is nuclear, and up to half hydro, depending on the season (affecting hydro potential). In 2008, Sweden generated almost 146 billion kWh, of which 42 percent was from nuclear (61.3 billion kWh).
Electricity imports and exports vary according to season, with Finland, Norway and Denmark providing the main traffic. In 2004, net exports were 2 TWh, and in 2005, 7.4 TWh. In 2006, net imports were 6 TWh, and in 2007, net imports were 1.3 TWh. Per capita consumption is about 14,800 kWh/y.
The state utility is Vattenfall AB, and private utilities include E.ON Sweden AB and Fortum Oy (majority-owned by the Finnish government).
Up to the late 1960s, there was a focus on hydro electricity to power Sweden's industrial growth. In 1965, it was decided to supplement this with nuclear power, to avoid the uncertainties of oil prices and increase the security of supply.
The policy was reinforced by the oil shocks of the early 1970s, at a time when Sweden depended on oil for about one fifth of its electricity and electricity demand was increasing by 7 percent per year. Hydroelectric output depends very much on seasonal precipitation: it was 51 TWh in 1996, 78 TWh in 2001, and 60 TWh in 2004, with most of the balance from nuclear.
In the mid-1970s, the nuclear push became a political issue, and 1977 legislation was passed to ensure proper waste management. This provided the basis for Sweden's world leadership in management of used fuel (particularly for those countries not reprocessing it).
Sweden has been an enthusiastic supporter of measures to improve world environmental quality. Among many others, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the country committed itself to stabilise carbon dioxide emissions at 1990 levels by 2000, and this was reaffirmed in 1995 at the first Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Berlin.
The fact that those levels in 1990 were only 60 percent of those of the 1970s was due to nuclear energy replacing most oil for electricity generation. (IDN-InDepthNews/22.06.2010)
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