Sweden funds nine municipalities for nuclear power feasibility studies

Nine Swedish municipalities just got a combined SEK19.8 million to do the unglamorous but decisive work of turning pro-nuclear politics into actual project sites. The money, handed out by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, went to Gävle, Kävlinge, Nyköping, Oskarshamn, Svalöv, Söderhamn, Valdemarsvik, Varberg and Östhammar, with awards ranging from SEK550,000 to SEK4.35 million.

This is not a fresh start so much as a deeper phase of the same municipal experiment. Naturvårdsverket says the 2026 round continues and expands the 2024-2025 pilot programme, when 13 municipalities shared SEK15 million to prepare for new nuclear power. The latest application window ran from February 12 to March 20, and if money is left after the first round, Naturvårdsverket plans a second call later in spring 2026.

The point of the grants is practical. Municipalities are expected to use the studies to improve coordinated planning and permitting for nuclear facilities, while also building local knowledge about possible sites, municipal responsibilities, skill needs and the mechanics of getting a plant established in a Swedish local-government setting. The work must be finished by March 31, 2027, and each municipality must report back by December 15, giving the agency a concrete set of local findings rather than another layer of policy language.

Seven of the nine municipalities already took part in earlier rounds, which suggests the programme is starting to sort out serious candidates from the merely curious. Nyköping and Söderhamn are new to this round, broadening the geographic spread of the effort. For Sweden’s nuclear planners, that matters because local acceptance, land-use planning and permit readiness are now as important as national ambition.

The timing also fits a much larger policy shift. Sweden’s 2023 roadmap calls for at least two large reactors by 2035 and the equivalent of up to 10 large reactors, including small modular reactors, by 2045. In 2025, the Riksdag approved a financing and risk-sharing model for new nuclear investment, and the government has also proposed legal changes to make coastal siting easier while keeping protections for natural and cultural values.

That is why these feasibility studies matter beyond the nine town halls now doing the work. The National Nuclear New-build Coordinator has pushed for stronger cooperation and knowledge transfer among municipalities and regions, and Sweden is using planning money to build exactly that kind of pipeline. If the studies identify viable sites and clearer permitting paths, the country will be one step closer to moving from nuclear rhetoric to shovel-ready projects.