SMRMap SMR companies, designs, and deployment projects — sourced, limited coverage

Policy and licensing / Sweden

Sweden: Act on Government Approval of Nuclear Facilities (SFS 2026:585)

Sweden's 2026 Act lets the Government approve a new nuclear facility, including its site, if the activity is justified, the site is suitable for emergency preparedness and fuel and waste can be managed, but only under a Government facility plan stating how many facilities of which types may be built where, and only with consent of the affected municipalities. In force 17 June 2026; it grants no construction or operating licence.

Category
Laws, rules and executive directives
Status
In effect
Instrument
statute · Lag (2026:585) om regeringens godkännande av kärntekniska anläggningar; issued 13 May 2026; in force 17 June 2026
Issued by
Sveriges riksdag
Jurisdiction
Sweden
Affects
Siting, Environmental review
In effect from
17 Jun 2026 · actual · day
Expiry or completion
None recorded
Operative text
Sveriges riksdag: Lag (2026:585) om regeringens godkännande av kärntekniska anläggningar (SFS 2026:585 full text (Riksdagen open data, from Regeringskansliet), no amendment listed)
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 statute on Government approval of nuclear facilities and on facility plans (anläggningsplan). A person intending to build a new nuclear facility whose waste activity will at some time exceed 10 TBq, or 10 GBq from alpha emitters, may apply to the Government for approval (s. 3), with information on the facility, the site, emergency planning zones and urgent protective actions (s. 4). The Government may approve a facility if the type of activity is justified, it is not unsuitable to build and operate it at the intended site from an emergency-preparedness perspective, and the nuclear material or waste can be managed (s. 8), and only if a valid facility plan covers it (s. 9). A facility plan states which types and how many nuclear facilities may be built, where, and what area is needed (s. 11); it is valid for 5 to 15 years (s. 14) and is subject to strategic environmental assessment (s. 12). Approval and the plan require the consent of the municipality or municipalities in the plan area, valid five years; only interim storage or disposal may be approved without it, on national-interest grounds (s. 18). The Act may be applied to applications filed after 10 March 2026. Under Environmental Code chapter 17 s. 1 (as amended by SFS 2026:586), a new nuclear facility not approved under this Act remains subject to the Government's permissibility review, which under chapter 17 s. 6 also requires municipal council consent; chapter 17 s. 6 a now contains only a justification requirement, and no reactor-number cap or existing-site restriction appears in chapter 17. The Act does not license construction or operation; licences under the Act on Nuclear Activities and Environmental Code permits remain separate.

Not approved or still pending

Approves no facility and adopts no facility plan for any project. Government decisions, facility plans and county board assignments made under the Act were not reviewed here. The amending act SFS 2026:586 and the earlier acts that changed Environmental Code chapter 17 were not opened separately.

Dated lifecycle

Related instruments

Projects or designs named by the source

Sources