Introduction

Sweden’s only domestic energy sources are hydropower and biomass. In the 1960s, Sweden decided to invest in nuclear power because it feared becoming over-dependent upon oil. Most of Sweden’s electricity production is generated by hydropower and nuclear power (47%). However, after the Chernobyl accident in 1986, the Swedish Parliament decided to phase-out nuclear power, in spite of protests from industrialists that this would double the price of electricity for Sweden’s electricity intensive industry and result in job losses.

Barsebäck 1 unit was shut down in November 1999 and in May 2005 the second unit was shut down too. Meanwhile, the government plans to raise the capacity of the existing NPPs to compensate for the loss of power due to the nuclear phase-out. Public opinion today supports the continued use of nuclear power (82% in favour). In September 2006, the Alliance for Sweden coalition government won the national election and in October 2006 the new Swedish prime minister said no political decision will be taken on phasing out nuclear power during his government’s 2006-2010 term in office. Sweden’s nuclear reactors are second generation units, which represent a safe, economic and reliable level of nuclear technology. SKB, the Swedish nuclear waste company, decided on 3 June 2009 to build its final deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel by 2023 at Forsmark. In addition, Sweden has set ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) during the post Kyoto period. On 5 February 2009, the Swedish government announced in a statement that it intends to reverse the country’s long-standing ban on nuclear energy and allow the building of new nuclear reactors to gradually replace its existing nuclear fleet. The Swedish parliament voted on 18 June  2010 to officially bring to an end the nuclear phase-out policy and paves the way for the building of new nuclear reactors in Sweden.

Country Profile

Executive Summary

Sweden’s only domestic energy sources are hydropower and biomass. In the 1960s, Sweden decided to invest in nuclear power because it feared becoming over-dependent upon oil. Most of Sweden’s electricity production is generated by hydropower and nuclear power (47%). However, after the Chernobyl accident in 1986, the Swedish Parliament decided to phase-out nuclear power, in spite of protests from industrialists that this would double the price of electricity for Sweden’s electricity intensive industry and result in job losses.

Barsebäck 1 unit was shut down in November 1999 and in May 2005 the second unit was shut down too. Meanwhile, the government plans to raise the capacity of the existing NPPs to compensate for the loss of power due to the nuclear phase-out. Public opinion today supports the continued use of nuclear power (82% in favour). In September 2006, the Alliance for Sweden coalition government won the national election and in October 2006 the new Swedish prime minister said no political decision will be taken on phasing out nuclear power during his government’s 2006-2010 term in office. Sweden’s nuclear reactors are second generation units, which represent a safe, economic and reliable level of nuclear technology. SKB, the Swedish nuclear waste company, decided on 3 June 2009 to build its final deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel by 2015 at Forsmark. In addition, Sweden has set ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) during the post Kyoto period. On 5 February 2009, the Swedish government announced in a statement that it intends to reverse the country’s long-standing ban on nuclear energy and allow the building of new nuclear reactors to gradually replace its existing nuclear fleet. The Swedish parliament voted on 18 June  2010 to officially bring to an end the nuclear phase-out policy that was first introduced in 1980 and paves the way for the building of new nuclear reactors in Sweden.

Security of supply

Sweden’s only domestic energy sources are hydro and biomass (which is used mainly in the pulp and paper industry and increasingly in biomass-based local district heating projects). However, Sweden does have large amounts of low grade uranium, but there is no economic incentive to exploit low grade uranium ores and no uranium mine is currently in operation. Fuel for the nuclear power plants is imported. Sweden’s energy requirement is covered both by imported energy - primarily oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear fuel - and by domestic energy in the form of hydropower, wood, peat and waste products derived from the forestry industry (bark and liquors). Originally, all energy was imported. Coal played an important role up until World War II, when oil and hydropower became the mainstay of the country’s energy supply. The first oil crisis, in 1973, demonstrated the risk of becoming dependent upon oil.

In the 1960s, the Swedish government decided to invest in nuclear power. Nuclear power and domestic fuel partly replaced oil and energy efficiency was improved. Between 1973 and 1997, the share of oil used in the energy supply fell from 71% to 29% and that of nuclear power rose from 1% to 37%. In 2003, the largest share of energy supply was met by oil and nuclear, followed by bio-fuel and hydropower. Nowadays most of Sweden’s electricity production is produced by hydropower (around 50%) and nuclear power (47%).

Sweden is part of the inter-Nordic electricity market together with Finland, Norway and Denmark. The Nordic electricity market has been liberalised, while the EU is gradually creating a single electricity market. Finland, like all the Nordic countries except Iceland, is trading on the Nordic electricity exchange, which is called “Nord Pool.” The price of electricity in the Nordic countries is determined largely by the availability of hydro power in Sweden and Norway, the availability of the nuclear power stations in Sweden and Finland, and international prices. For energy supplies Sweden is connected to Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany and Poland. Interconnection capacities between these countries have increased in recent years. A Finnish new nuclear power plant scheduled to be built by 2009 will also require increased transmission capacity between Sweden and Finland.

Nuclear Policy

Sweden decided to phase out nuclear power following a referendum that was held in 1980. Sweden’s population voted for the closure of all four nuclear power plants (NPPs). The Chernobyl accident in 1986 launched a heated political debate about Sweden’s nuclear power programme. The Parliament decided in 1988 that the phasing out of nuclear power would start up between 1995 and 1996, with two initial units closing. After a few years, the industry and the trade unions fuelled an intensive debate, with official reports showing that the total cost of an early phase-out would amount to more than SEK 200 billion. The price of electricity for Sweden’s electricity-intensive industry (paper and steel) would double, resulting in between 50,000 to 100,000 job losses. Therefore, the Swedish Parliament decided, in 1991, not to start the phase-out until 1995.

In 1997, the decision was taken to close the two units at Barsebäck NPP, the first by 1 July 1998 and the second by 1 July 2001, provided that closure of the second reactor was compensated for by new electricity production from renewables sources and by reduced use of electricity. The Barsebäck 1 reactor was shut down in November 1999. In October 2000, the government announced that the conditions for closing the second reactor had not yet been fulfilled. In 2003, the Swedish government appointed a special negotiator to broker an agreement with the nuclear power industry on the long-term phasing out of nuclear production. Negotiations were broken off in October 2004, without an agreement with the power companies having been reached.

However, the Social Democrats, the Left Party and the Centre Party put forward a proposal for an agreement for the continued phase-out of nuclear power. Under this strategy, the second unit of Barsebäck was closed on 31 May 2005, and the oldest remaining reactors were to be reviewed. The actual rate of phase-out will depend upon the rate of introduction of alternative energy production and improvements in energy efficiency. The government plans to raise the capacity of existing NPPs to compensate for the loss of power due to the nuclear phase-out programme. In October 2005, it approved uprates for units 1 and 3 of the Ringhals Nuclear Power Plant and of the relicensing of unit 2 saying that Nuclear power is vital both domestically and in the Nordic region. In April 2007, Ringhals’unit 1’s uprate was completed. The decommissioning funds are managed by the State, independently of the operator.

On 20 September 2005, The Swedish Government presented the 2006 Budget Bill. The minority social democratic government proposed an 85 % increase of the nuclear tax rate and a 300 % increase of the hydro power tax rate. However, public opinion is in favour of nuclear. The Liberal Party called not only for the proposed phase-out of nuclear energy to be abandoned, but also for the construction of new nuclear power plants. In September 2006, the Alliance for Sweden coalition government won the national election and in October 2006 the new Swedish prime minister said no political decision will be taken on phasing out nuclear power during his government’s 2006-2010 term in office. On 5 February 2009, the Swedish government announced in a statement that it intends to reverse the country’s long-standing ban on nuclear energy and allow the building of new nuclear reactors to gradually replace its existing nuclear fleet. The Swedish parliament voted on 18 June  2010 to officially bring to an end the nuclear phase-out policy and paves the way for the building of new nuclear reactors in Sweden. The Riksdag (Parliament) adopted with a tight majority (174 for and 172 against) a law allowing the building of new nuclear reactors to gradually replace its 10 existing nuclear units on the three plant sites where those units are located.

Safety and Waste management

SKI (Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate) is responsible for supervising the implementation of the “Act governing Nuclear Activities” in Sweden. SKI reports to the Ministry of Environment. It has to ensure that Swedish nuclear installations have adequate defence procedures to prevent serious accidents. It provides a clear definition of safety requirements and checks compliance with requirements. Most of the Swedish reactors are BWR (Boiling Water Reactors) built in the 1970s. They are second-generation units, which represent a safe, economic and reliable stage of nuclear technology.

The Convention on Nuclear Safety entered into force in October 1996. In September 2004, SKI started to review applications for uprating nuclear power reactors. This uprating could add 475 MWe of capacity to the country’s system.

The spent fuel from all the Swedish nuclear power plants is transported by boat to the central interim storage facility, called CLAB. This facility started operation in 1985 and is situated close to the Oskarshamm NPP. Some low-level waste is deposed of at local dumps and some of it is incinerated at Studsvik. All other waste from reactor operation is transported to SFR, the final repository for radioactive operational waste. SFR has been in operation since 1988 and is located close to the Forsmark NPP. Most of the waste from the decommissioning of reactors will be disposed of at SFR. SKB (Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste management Company) has built and owns the CLAB, SFR and the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory.

SKB, Sweden’s nuclear fuel and waste management company, is acting on behalf of the nuclear utilities in conducting extensive research and development and running tests at the remaining facilities on the final disposal of long-lived spent nuclear fuel. SKB is jointly owned by the Swedish utilities (Vattenfall 36%, Forsmark Kraftgrupp 30%, OKG 22% and Barsebäck Kraft). It has developed a system for using a deep geological repository for the final disposal of high-level waste. SKB decided on 3 June 2009 to build its final deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel at Forsmark. The company had to choose between Forsmark in the municipality of Östhammar and Laxemar in the municipality of Öskarshamn. The construction of the waste disposal facility should start in 2015 and should be completed by 2023. Swedish high-level waste will be disposed of in the final repository in crystalline bedrock at a depth of nearly 500 m. The next stage is for SKB to send in 2010 applications for permits to the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority and the Environmental Court. The applications include the environmental impact assessment and a safety analysis for a nuclear fuel repository in Forsmark.

Climate Change

Sweden has developed policies and specific measures for combating climate change since 1988. Under the EU Burden-Sharing Agreement of 17 June 1998 that aims to help countries implement the Kyoto Protocol, Sweden is allowed to increase its emissions of GHG to 4% above 1990 levels. The commitment period for the target is 2008-2012. On 30 November 2001, the government proposed the setting up of a climate strategy for the future. The government recommended that Swedish GHG emissions should be at least 4% lower in 2008-2012 than in 1990. This national target should be reached without using carbon sinks or flexible mechanisms. However, the nuclear phase-out policy of the Swedish government cannot be carried out without using natural gas on a large scale to replace nuclear output, and hence the plan to reduce GHG must be reviewed.

Public Opinion

Nuclear power is gaining momentum in Sweden. An opinion poll issued in June 2008, and conducted by polling organisation TEMO, reveals that public support for continuing with nuclear power remains strong at 82% (80% in May 2004). Around 40% of Swedes questioned in the survey are in favour of using nuclear energy until the country’s eleven operating units reach the end of their operational lives. About 42% support the continued use of nuclear energy and the development of new nuclear capacity when needed.