Earth Equity News

Sweden Changes Course on Nuclear Power. By Karl Ritter, AP, February 5, 2009. "The Swedish government agreed Thursday to scrap a three-decade ban on building new nuclear reactors, saying it needs to avoid producing more greenhouse gases. Sweden is a leader on renewable energy but is struggling to develop alternative source like hydropower and wind to meet its growing energy demands. If parliament approves scrapping the ban, Sweden would join a growing list of countries rethinking nuclear power as a 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. 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... Lawmakers decided after a 1980 referendum to phase out nuclear power, which provides about half of Sweden's electricity... Only two of the 12 reactors have been closed and Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said he didn't feel bound by the referendum because it didn't specify how to replace nuclear energy. The center-right coalition government's proposal, 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."