[ RadSafe ] Sweden " scraps ban on new nuclear reactors "

[Jaro]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gnoJZPYRZX_-FG1tRogYfdxBmw
gAD965COE80

Sweden changes course on nuclear power

5 February 2009

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Swedish government on Thursday agreed to scrap a ban on
building new nuclear reactors, three decades after deciding to phase out
atomic power.

Leaders for the center-right coalition government said new reactors were
needed to help fight climate change and secure the nation's energy supply
amid growing support for nuclear energy in the Scandinavian country.

Lawmakers decided after a 1980 referendum to phase out nuclear power, but
only two of the Scandinavian nation's 12 reactors have been closed. The
government's plan, which needs approval from Parliament, calls for new
reactors to be built at existing plants to replace the 10 operational
reactors when they are taken out of service.

If the plan is approved, Sweden would join a growing list of countries
rethinking nuclear power as source of energy amid concerns over global
warming and the reliability of energy suppliers such as Russia. Britain,
France and Poland are planning new reactors and Finland is currently
building Europe's first new atomic plant in over a decade.

Swedish public opinion polls have shown growing support for nuclear energy
in recent years because of the lack of alternatives to replace the nuclear
plants, which supply about 50 percent of Sweden's electricity.

The agreement was made possible after a compromise by the Center Party, a
junior coalition member which has long held a skeptical stance toward
nuclear power.

"I'm doing this for the sake of my children and grandchildren," Center Party
leader Maud Olofsson said. "I can live with the fact that nuclear power will
be part of our electricity supply system in the foreseeable future."

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http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKSAT00602820090205

Sweden says to allow new nuclear reactors

Thu Feb 5, 2009 9:53am GMT

STOCKHOLM, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The Swedish government on Thursday proposed to
allow construction of new nuclear power reactors on existing sites to
replace old reactors.

The government proposed to lift a decades-old ban on new development of
nuclear power in Sweden.

"It shall be possible to give permission to gradually replace existing
reactors as these reach the end of their economic life," it said in a
statement.

It would also become easier to get permits to expand wind power, it said.

(Reporting by Daniel Dickson)