The moderates want to invest as much as SEK 400 billion in government credit guarantees to build new nuclear power in Sweden. Money that should be enough for up to ten new reactors, according to the party.
- It is a historically large investment, says M-leader Ulf Kristersson.
But the election promise is completely ruled out by the Center Party.
Tomas Nordenskiöld
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The Moderates are now advancing with their biggest election promise to date. It is about a historic investment in new nuclear power in the country, if it becomes a reality. And it will come about by the state pushing for 400 billion in "green credit guarantees" for new reactors to begin construction.
Expressen was able to reveal this on Wednesday, and the news was then confirmed at a press conference.
- We believe this is a task that is important for the state. We need nuclear power, says the Moderates' economic policy spokesperson Elisabeth Svantesson.
"A historic shift"
In the event of a change of power this autumn, Sweden will for the first time since the 1970s be governed by parties that all want to build new nuclear power.
Alongside the Moderates, the Christian Democrats, the Sweden Democrats and the Liberals have also taken a stand for new reactors. The fact that the Center Party, which previously pushed for the decommissioning of nuclear power, is not included in Ulf Kristersson's new right-wing bloc means that the possibility of a "historic shift" now exists, according to Ulf Kristersson.
- This issue has paralyzed Swedish politics since the referendum in the 1980s, and it has been very bad for Sweden, he says.
But a big question mark has been about the financing, where many critics have pointed out that today there are no actors who are willing to contribute to the enormous funds required for new reactors.
C: "Today's play is a threat"
But now the Moderates hope that green credit guarantees will make the business community want to invest in new nuclear power again. In addition, they want to remove various obstacles that are believed to stand in the way of new reactors today. The party therefore wants to review various regulations, and proposes, among other things, that the state should be liable for damages if nuclear power is discontinued again for political reasons.
A main argument that the party raises for the investment is climate change, but the party also believes that it will provide lower and more stable prices in the long term.
The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise welcomed the Moderates' big election promise as "positive". But not everyone is impressed. The Center Party's climate and energy policy spokesman Rickard Nordin says this about the proposal from M.
- The moderates now seem to have completely given up on the market. Today's move is a threat to the predictability required in the green transition. The cost of these distorted subsidies will be visible on the electricity bill, he says.
Can be a hot election issue
There is now also much to suggest that nuclear power will be one of the election's major disputes. The Social Democrats also have a clearly skeptical attitude to investments in new nuclear power, and the party instead highlights offshore wind power as the way forward.
The fact that the nuclear-critical Green Party and the Left Party are also part of Magdalena Andersson's government base is another factor that reinforces the image of a clear political conflict on the issue ahead of the election.
(20min delay)