On February 3, the first groundbreaking for a nuclear reactor in Oskarshamn will take place. It is also the first time in over 40 years that new nuclear power is being built in Sweden.

Due to political decisions primarily from the red-green governments, it has been practically impossible and economically unprofitable to build new nuclear power in the country for several decades. Instead, existing nuclear power has been shut down in favor of experiments with wind power.

This has put households and businesses, especially in the southern parts of Sweden, in a precarious situation regarding access to electricity at reasonable prices. The Tidö government, supported by the Sweden Democrats, is now breaking with the socially harmful energy policy, and in February, the first groundbreaking will take place for what is said to be the first in a series of new small modular reactors of the modern SMR type.

The location for the construction, Oskarshamn, has previously been established in the context of nuclear power. It is the company Blykalla that is now developing and building Sweden’s first small modular reactors (SMR), which, when completed, will be able to deliver fossil-free and climate-neutral electricity to households and businesses.

“The biggest thing that has happened to our country”

The first symbolic groundbreaking will take place on February 3 in a solemn manner, with the presence of the Minister for Energy and Enterprise, Ebba Busch (KD), accompanied by a number of business profiles. In an email to Oskarshamnsnytt, Blykalla refers to this energy policy milestone as a “nuclear renaissance”. They write:

“We are very pleased to announce that on February 3, we will break ground for our electric test reactor at OKG. This is the first reactor on Swedish soil in 40+ years – and thus the biggest thing that has happened in our country within the framework of the nuclear renaissance we are in”