Sweden Company Wants to Build New Nuclear Power Plants

A Swedish company called Blykalla wants to build new nuclear power plants near the city of Gavle. The company asked the Swedish government on Friday for money to help build these special reactors. The government has promised billions of crowns in cheap loans to companies that want to build clean energy. Blykalla is the second company to ask for this money after Vattenfall, which is owned by the government.

Blykalla's CEO Jacob Stedman said his company will now talk with the government about getting funding. He would not say exactly how much money they need. However, he explained that projects like this usually cost tens of billions of Swedish crowns. That is a very large amount of money.

Blykalla is working on special 55-megawatt reactors that use lead-cooling technology. This technology was first developed for Russian nuclear submarines in the 1950s. The company has updated this old technology to make it work better. Their planned reactor park would make around 330 megawatts of electricity.

The new reactors could start making electricity in the early 2030s. However, the company needs approval from many groups first. They must get permission from the government, nuclear safety experts, environmental courts, and the European Union. All of these groups must agree before the reactors can be built.

Sweden's government wants to build more nuclear power plants for several reasons. They are worried about having enough energy in the future. They also think the country will need twice as much electricity by 2045. Many private companies do not want to build nuclear plants because they cost too much money and are risky.