History of nuclear power in Sweden
نویسنده
چکیده
This paper is an attempt to outline the history of Swedish policies towards the energy system and to describe how the country’s economy dealt with management costs and accident risks of nuclear reactors. When reactors supply marginal electricity, nuclear power may provide electrical energy at low costs, as it has high investment costs but moderate personal costs and low fuel costs. The support given by the Swedish electricity consuming industry to nuclear power may be understood as efforts to create and defend a situation of overcapacity in the electricity production sector, rather than a support for nuclear power as such. The external costs of routine emissions of radioactive materials are difficult to internalise because they, like carbon dioxide, have global long-term effects. However, like the air pollutants already regulated, costs of reactor accidents, as well as the motives for taking on management costs of nuclear waste are regional and within a generation in time. The market evaluation of accident risks has deliberately been destroyed by legislation set to favour nuclear reactors. Societal economic rationality may be successfully applied in the energy sector. Climate change risks have been internalised through the establishment of carbon taxes. The resulting development of biofuels was surprisingly successful, indicating a potential for further modernisation of the energy supply system. Possible ways to restore the nuclear risk market so that the legislation may internalise nuclear reactor accident risks and waste costs are described. This may be done without the difficult quantification of environmental costs. Appropriate legislation may internalise the costs while creating conditions for market evaluation of these uncertain costs.
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