Swedish government proposes 183 billion kronor for new nuclear waste storage

The Swedish government plans to allocate 183 billion kronor (€16 billion) in its spring budget to fund a new deep repository for radioactive waste, part of a broader 219 billion kronor package to support new nuclear power, public broadcaster SVT reports.

The proposed state funding would cover costs over 124 years, from 2035 to 2159, for a facility designed to isolate spent nuclear fuel 500 metres underground for 100,000 years. An additional 36 billion kronor is earmarked for 2026–2027 to acquire a majority stake in Vattenfall’s subsidiary Videberg Kraft, which plans new reactors at the Ringhals plant.

Energy Minister Niklas Wykman (Moderate Party) said the model—where the state assumes financial risk if a single operator faces disproportionate waste costs—would “secure the construction of new nuclear power in Sweden.” Desirée Comstedt, CEO of Videberg Kraft, called it “an important step in the right direction,” though her company’s final investment decision remains years away.

Opposition parties criticised the proposal. Center Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist told SVT it was “completely unreasonable” for taxpayers to bear costs that “should be covered by the companies themselves,” as under the current system, where operators pay per kilowatt-hour into a nuclear waste fund. Those fees have doubled over the past two decades.

Sweden’s existing repository near Forsmark, currently under construction beneath the Baltic Sea, will only handle waste from the country’s first 12 reactors. The government’s plan shifts financial responsibility—and potential profits or losses from new reactors—to taxpayers.