STOCKHOLM -- The Swedish government agreed Thursday to scrap a three-decade ban on building new nuclear reactors, saying it needs to avoid producing more greenhouse gases.
Sweden is a leader on renewable energy but is struggling to develop alternative source like hydropower and wind to meet its growing energy demands. If parliament approves scrapping the ban, Sweden would join a growing list of countries rethinking nuclear power as a source of energy amid concerns over global warming and the reliability of energy suppliers such as Russia. Britain, France and Poland are planning new reactors and Finland is currently building Europe's first new atomic plant in over a decade.
The agreement was made possible after a compromise by the Center Party, a junior coalition member which has long held a skeptical stance toward nuclear power.
"I'm doing this for the sake of my children and grandchildren," said party leader Maud Olofsson. "I can live with the fact that nuclear power will be part of our electricity supply system in the foreseeable future."
Lawmakers decided after a 1980 referendum to phase out nuclear power, which provides about half of Sweden's electricity.
The 1980 referendum came about at time of mounting concerns about nuclear safety in the wake of a partial meltdown a year earlier at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.
Only two of the 12 reactors have been closed and Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said he didn't feel bound by the referendum because it didn't specify how to replace nuclear energy.
The center-right coalition government's proposal, which needs approval from Parliament, calls for new reactors to be built at existing plants to replace the 10 operational reactors when they are taken out of service.
The government's energy plans calls for renewable energy to account for 50 percent of Sweden's energy in 2020. Today that figure is roughly 40 percent, one of the highest in Europe, mostly because of hydropower.
The government also said it aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020, compared to 1990 levels, partly by expanding wind power and raising taxes on fossil fuels.
Swedish public opinion polls have shown growing support for nuclear energy in recent years because of the lack of alternatives.
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