Nuclear power actors' responsibility for costs

The plan rejects nuclear power expansion and instead wants to invest in renewable electricity, and consistently builds on companies bearing the socioeconomic costs their operations cause. That nuclear power operators themselves shall always bear the costs of safety, waste management and accident insurance, with substantially increased provisions, follows directly from that. The counter-proposal's demands are therefore supported by the plan, which does not want the state to bear the risks of nuclear power.

• rejects expanded nuclear powerdecisive»planerna på att bygga ut kärnkraften som en väg ut ur fossilberoendet.« (party programme ↗)“plans to expand nuclear power as a way out of fossil fuel dependence.”
• polluter pays»där pengar förs över från företag som smutsar ner till miljö- och klimatvänlig produktion« (2022 manifesto ↗)“where money is transferred from companies that pollute to environmentally and climate-friendly production”
• renewable before nuclear»En radikal utbyggnad av den förnybara elproduktionen är avgörande« (party programme ↗)“A radical expansion of renewable electricity production is decisive”

The plan establishes that the principle of the polluter pays shall be applied in full, which directly bears the requirement that nuclear power actors themselves shall bear responsibility for safety, waste management and accident insurance. The plan sees nuclear power as an important part of electricity production but makes no exception from the cost responsibility. The requirement for reasonable energy prices speaks for the costs to be borne by the actor rather than shifted to electricity customers.

• the polluter paysdecisive»Principen om att förorenaren betalar tillämpas fullt ut.« (party programme ↗)“The principle of the polluter pays is applied in full.”
• cost responsibility for emissions»Vi ska verka för att ett globalt koldioxidpris införs med principen att förorenaren betalar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We shall work for a global carbon price to be introduced with the principle of the polluter pays.”
• nuclear power part of the electricity mix»Kärnkraften är en viktig del av svensk elproduktion och kommer att så vara under lång tid framöver.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Nuclear power is an important part of Swedish electricity production and will continue to be so for a long time to come.”
• reasonable energy prices for households»Låga och rättvisa energipriser i hela landet.« (party programme ↗)“Low and fair energy prices throughout the country.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The counter-proposal wants to establish that nuclear power actors always bear the costs of safety, waste disposal and accident insurance themselves. The plan emphasizes that nuclear power requires hundreds of billions from the state, has enormous safety risks and creates dangerous waste without a long-term sustainable solution, and it opposes new nuclear power. That costs are borne by the actors themselves follows directly from that position.

• the state should not bear the costs of nuclear powerdecisive»Kärnkraften tar minst 15 år att bygga, kräver hundratals miljarder av staten i investeringar och har enorma säkerhetsrisker.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Nuclear power takes at least 15 years to build, requires hundreds of billions from the state in investments and has enormous safety risks.”
• no to new nuclear power»Miljöpartiet motsätter sig ny kärnkraft i svensk« (party programme ↗)“The Green Party opposes new nuclear power in Swedish”
• unsolved waste issue»miljöförstörande brytning av uran, som är en ändlig resurs som skapar farligt avfall utan« (party programme ↗)“environmentally destructive mining of uranium, which is a finite resource that creates dangerous waste without”
• serious safety risks»långsiktigt hållbar lösning. Kärnkraften innebär även allvarliga säkerhetsrisker, särskilt i« (party programme ↗)“long-term sustainable solution. Nuclear power also entails serious safety risks, particularly in”

The plan's core principle is that the polluter pays and that it should be unprofitable to burden the environment, while the party's long-term vision is a society without nuclear power. That nuclear power operators fully bear the costs for safety, waste and accident insurance follows directly from that principle. The plan is, however, silent on the committee's preparation arguments.

• the polluter paysdecisive»Det ska alltid vara lönsamt att vara miljövårdande och olönsamt att agera miljöförstörande.« (party programme ↗)“It should always be profitable to be environmentally responsible and unprofitable to act in an environmentally destructive way.”
• vision of society without nuclear power»Sverige har både möjlighet och skyldighet att inom mindre än en generation bli ett samhälle med hundra procent förnybar energi, helt fritt från fossil energi, där Centerpartiets vision är ett samhälle utan kärnkraft.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden has both the opportunity and the duty to within less than a generation become a society with a hundred per cent renewable energy, completely free from fossil energy, where the Centre Party's vision is a society without nuclear power.”
• cost for environmental impact»Det ska kosta mer att smutsa ner.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It should cost more to pollute.”
• full internalization of environmental costs»Lika viktigt som skyldigheten att betala när man belastar miljön, är rättigheten att få betalt när man producerar ekosystemtjänster.« (party programme ↗)“As important as the duty to pay when burdening the environment is the right to be paid when producing ecosystem services.”

The election manifesto instead wants to facilitate new nuclear power, among other things through state loan guarantees, modernized regulations and payment for availability. Significantly increased appropriations of the kind the counter-proposal requires would make that expansion more expensive and slower. The plan's requirements for clear safety requirements and that the polluter pays remain, but do not support the requirement for full cost transfer to nuclear power.

• expanded and supported nuclear powerdecisive»I stället vill vi möjliggöra fler nya reaktorer på fler ställen, möjliggöra återstart av Ringhals 1 och 2, se till att statliga lånegarantier omfattar kärnkraften, modernisera regelverken och ge kärnkraften betalt för att den alltid finns tillgänglig.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Instead we want to enable more new reactors in more places, enable restart of Ringhals 1 and 2, ensure that state loan guarantees cover nuclear power, modernize regulations and give nuclear power payment for always being available.”
• the state facilitates nuclear power»Staten ska underlätta en utbyggnad av svensk kärnkraft« (party programme ↗)“The state shall facilitate an expansion of Swedish nuclear power”
• safety requirements for all energy types»För alla energislag ska finnas tydliga miljö- och säkerhetskrav.« (party programme ↗)“For all energy types there shall be clear environmental and safety requirements.”
• the polluter pays»Principen att förorenaren betalar ska upprätthållas.« (party programme ↗)“The principle that the polluter pays shall be upheld.”

The election manifesto promises long-term conditions for nuclear power to develop and expansion with new reactors. The counter-proposal wants to condition long-term expansion with significantly increased allocations for safety, waste, and accident insurance, which directly opposes that commitment. The party programme's requirements for fixed rules of the game and that baseload power should be protected point in the same direction, although the requirement that energy sources should compete independently pulls partly in the opposite direction.

• expanded nuclear powerdecisive»Satsa på kärnkraften med långsiktiga villkor att utvecklas. Förläng befintliga reaktorers drift och bygg ut med nya reaktorer.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Invest in nuclear power with long-term conditions to develop. Extend the operation of existing reactors and build out with new reactors.”
• fixed rules of the game for energy policy»Sveriges energiförsörjning ska tryggas genom långsiktig energipolitik med fasta spelregler.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden's energy supply shall be secured through long-term energy policy with fixed rules of the game.”
• protected baseload power»Denna baskraft ska värnas.« (party programme ↗)“This baseload power shall be protected.”
• equal electricity market»Därför behöver alla goda fossilfria kraftslag ges förutsättningar att konkurrera självständigt på en jämlik elmarknad.« (party programme ↗)“Therefore, all good fossil-free energy sources need to be given conditions to compete independently on an equal electricity market.”

The plan goes in the opposite direction to the counter-proposal's requirement: the state should facilitate financing of new nuclear power through green credit guarantees and a state high-cost protection for construction. Requiring instead that actors always fully bear security, waste and insurance costs through substantially increased provisions would increase the cost of the expansion the plan points to as the solution for the energy system. The plan therefore rejects the requirement in substance.

• state financing support for nuclear powerdecisive»Införa gröna kreditgarantier för ny kärnkraft – staten ska underlätta finansieringen« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Introduce green credit guarantees for new nuclear power – the state should facilitate financing”
• state high-cost protection»Införa ett statligt högkostnadsskydd för konstruktionen av ny kärnkraft« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Introduce a state high-cost protection for construction of new nuclear power”
• new nuclear power as solution»Ny kärnkraft är lösningen för att reparera Sveriges energisystem på lång sikt.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“New nuclear power is the solution to repair Sweden's energy system in the long term”
• long-term conditions for nuclear power»Ge nybyggd kärnkraft rätten till drift och elproduktion under hela sin tekniska livslängd« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Give newly built nuclear power the right to operate and produce electricity for its entire technical lifetime”

The election manifesto's core energy commitment is to create conditions for new nuclear power and to change the regulations that today prevent new construction. Stipulating greatly increased allocations for safety, waste and liability insurance would lay new economic obstacles in the way of precisely that expansion. The plan therefore speaks against the counter-proposal's demand.

• conditions for new nuclear powerdecisive»Skapa förutsättningar för ny kärnkraft i Sverige och en färdplan för byggandet av SMR-reaktorer« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Create conditions for new nuclear power in Sweden and a roadmap for building SMR reactors.”
• remove obstructing regulations»Det finns idag regelverk i behov av förändring som förhindrar nybyggnation och omöjliggör moderna mindre reaktorer i Sverige.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“There are today regulations in need of change that prevent new construction and make modern smaller reactors impossible in Sweden.”
• long-term nuclear investment»Sverigedemokraterna vill göra en långsiktig satsning på den nya generationens kärnkraft.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden Democrats wish to make a long-term investment in the new generation of nuclear power.”
• reliable and cheap electricity»Säkra tillgången till pålitlig och billig el genom satsningar på framtidens kärnkraft.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Secure access to reliable and cheap electricity through investments in future nuclear power.”