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Policy and licensing / Sweden

Sweden: Act on Nuclear Activities (SFS 1984:3, lag om kärnteknisk verksamhet)

Sweden's Act on Nuclear Activities prohibits building, possessing or operating a nuclear power or research reactor without a licence. Since 17 June 2026, licences for facilities the Government has approved under the 2026 facility-approval Act are decided by the designated authority, which the 1984 Ordinance makes the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, and binding advance rulings on designs are available. It approves no site, design or project.

Category
Laws, rules and executive directives
Status
In effect
Instrument
statute · Lag (1984:3) om kärnteknisk verksamhet; issued 12 January 1984; in force 1 February 1984; reprinted SFS 1992:1536; amended up to SFS 2026:1365
Issued by
Sveriges riksdag
Jurisdiction
Sweden
Affects
National reactor licensing
In effect from
1 Feb 1984 · actual · day
Expiry or completion
None recorded
Operative text
Sveriges riksdag: Lag (1984:3) om kärnteknisk verksamhet (consolidated) (Consolidated text amended up to SFS 2026:1365 (Riksdagen, from Regeringskansliet))
Record reviewed · next review
2026-10-18 · 2027-04-18 (dates our review of this record; not a statement of the measure's present legal effect)

Legal and geographic scope

Swedish framework statute on nuclear activities. Section 5 prohibits conducting nuclear activities without a licence under the Act; nuclear activities include building, possessing or operating a nuclear facility, which includes a nuclear power reactor and any other facility where a self-sustaining nuclear reaction can occur, such as a research reactor (s. 2). As amended by SFS 2026:587 (in force 17 June 2026), a licence for a facility the Government has approved under the Act (2026:585) on Government approval of nuclear facilities is decided by the authority the Government designates; other licence questions are decided by the Government or that authority; and no licence may be granted while an approval case under that Act is pending. Sections 6 to 6 d provide, on request, a binding advance ruling on whether a facility's design meets this Act and the Radiation Protection Act, valid for 5 to 15 years. Under the Ordinance (1984:14) the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (Strålsäkerhetsmyndigheten) decides licences for Government-approved facilities (s. 17), decides on advance rulings (s. 2 d) and holds preparatory dialogue with intending applicants (s. 2 a). Environmental Code permits and the Government's permissibility review are separate. The Act does not itself approve any site, design or project.

Not approved or still pending

Grants no licence or advance ruling to any project or design. The amending acts SFS 2026:587 and 2026:1365 and the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority's regulations were not opened separately; the Radiation Protection Act was not reviewed.

Dated lifecycle

Definitions in this instrument

Projects or designs named by the source

Sources