Nordic country said to account for 80% of Europe’s deposits
Sweden has confirmed plans to lift its ban on uranium mining from January 2026 with the aim of preparing for greater nuclear energy capacity and reducing its dependence on energy imports.
Minister of climate and environment Romina Pormokhtari said the decision was to be discussed in a cabinet meeting on 28 August.
A government inquiry concluded earlier this year that Sweden should end its ban on uranium mining to allow it to be exploited like other natural resources.
Uranium exploration and mining was banned in 2018 when the Swedish parliament passed an amendment to the environmental code.
The coalition government at the time, with the support of the Left Party and the rural-based Center Party, backed renewables and said nuclear energy had no place in the energy mix, which meant no place for uranium mining.
Since August 2018, no permits for uranium exploration or mining have been issued.
Uranium mining has become an issue of concern for Europe’s nuclear industry because Russia dominates the processing of the fuel. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has sought to reduce its energy dependence on Moscow.
Sweden is said to account for 80% of the EU’s uranium deposits and already extracts uranium as a waste product when mining for other metals.
Several companies, including Australia’s Aura Energy and Canada’s District Metals, have expressed interest in developing uranium sites in Sweden.
Prime Minister Wants Construction To Begin
Prime minister Ulf Kristersson has said Sweden will begin construction on a new nuclear power plant as it pushes ahead with ambitious plans to increase nuclear capacity.
Kristersson’s right-wing coalition government has vowed to massively ramp up nuclear energy in Sweden, but a formal decision on the type of reactor to be built or a construction schedule has yet to be taken.
The government said in November 2023 it wanted to increase nuclear power production equivalent to two nuclear reactors by 2035, with a “massive expansion” to follow by 2045.
Sweden-based power company Vattenfall announced earlier this month that it will proceed with US-based GE Vernova and British company Rolls-Royce SMR as it looks to choose a potential supplier for new nuclear power plants next to the existing Ringhals reactor site in southern Sweden.
Vattenfall wants to put the first SMR into operation in the first half of the 2030s. It has begun acquiring land in the area, but has not yet applied for environmental permits.
Sweden’s six existing nuclear plants are at three sites: Forsmark, Oskarshamn and Ringhals. According to International Atomic Energy Agency data, nuclear energy provided 28.6% of the country’s electricity generation in 2023.
