Keeping on the northern lights
Sweden’s tax cut provides a rare bit of cheer for the nuclear industry
THE list of candidates for the most beleaguered part of Europe’s nuclear-power industry is long. But since last year Sweden, which generates about 40% of its electricity through nuclear energy, has been a strong contender. A tax increased to punitive levels in 2015 by the anti-nuclear Green Party hit its operators so hard that they threatened to close all ten of the country’s plants unless it was scrapped. On June 10th the government, including the Greens, caved in and threw them a lifeline. It has promised to phase out the tax from next year and will allowed operators to replace ageing reactors with new ones.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Keeping on the northern lights”
From the June 18th 2016 edition
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