Stockholm plans to build a dozen new nuclear reactors
Sweden has been criticized for plans to build at least 10 new nuclear reactors in the Scandinavian country. Environmental experts say these proposals are too expensive and too late to meet energy needs.
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Environmental experts have criticized the Swedish government's plan to build at least 10 nuclear reactors over the next 20 years, more than double the current number, saying it would be too expensive and too late to meet energy needs.
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Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari announced on Wednesday that Sweden needs to double its electricity production in the next two decades to meet its climate goals.
The plan to build 10 new reactors would represent a dramatic change from the country's current nuclear power capacity, with the six operating reactors at Forsmark, Oskarshamn and Ringhals accounting for about 30% of the country's electricity generation.
Lars. Jay Nilsson, a professor at Lund University and a member of the European Climate Advisory Committee, said he disputed the government's claim that new reactors were needed and called the move “symbolic.”
“You can't say with certainty that we need 10 new reactors.” Right now, the expansion of electricity generation in Sweden is coming from wind power, an expert told The Guardian. “I don't expect any new nuclear plant in Sweden unless the government gives fairly far-reaching guarantees like you have at Hinckley Point [in the UK].”
The move, he said, was more posturing than action, arguing that the government wanted to show that it was taking action to achieve its climate goals. “I see it as more of a symbolic change than a real change.”
Nilsson says that if the reactors were built, the cost would likely fall heavily on the shoulders of Swedish taxpayers. As the issue has been discussed in the past, this latest announcement has generated a “great response”.
Sweden's reputation as a green leader on the world stage is changing, he says. “Sweden will partially lose this authority. Now the dynamism and progressiveness is coming from the EU and Brussels.”
The EU's “Meet 55” plan legally requires member states to reduce emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and become “climate neutral” by 2050 < /p>
This week, the Swedish government announced for the first time the expected number of new reactors.
“From day one, this government has worked hard to remove the obstacles that have been erected to prevent the construction of a new nuclear plant,” said Romina Purmokhtari, a spokeswoman for the Liberals, who became the youngest after taking office last year. minister in the country's history. “Climate change requires a doubling of electricity production in the next 20 years and nuclear power is critical if we want to succeed.”
Karin Leksen, secretary general of Sweden's largest environmental organization Naturskyddsföreningen, accused the government of trying to “distract attention from climate issues .” “They're distracting from what's really needed now, which is generating enough electricity by 2030.”
The plan also ignores progress in developing new energy storage methods and other developments, she said. “We disagree with the energy secretary when she said we need more nuclear power to build more wind power. We think it's a bit old-fashioned.”