Vattenfall Puts Nuclear Plans on Hold

Sweden's Vattenfall will drop plans to build new nuclear reactors because a new government, which includes the Green Party, doesn't support them, the company said on Friday.

The previous centre-right government overturned a policy of phasing out nuclear power, allowing for the replacement of the country's ageing 10 reactors. That led Vattenfall to apply to the regulator to replace one or two reactors.

"The new government has signalled that we have to stop analysing options for building new nuclear reactors, and we have our analysis on standby now," Magnus Kryssare, a spokesman for Vattenfall, said.

The company still had to discuss with the government the next step regarding its application to the regulator, but would stop its internal analysis, Kryssare added.

Vattenfall operates seven reactors, and Germany's E.ON the remaining three. Finnish utility Fortum has stakes both in Vattenfall and E.ON operated reactors.

The Greens want to see some of the oldest nuclear reactors decommissioned in the current parliament, ending in 2018, but Prime Minister Stefan Lofven's Social Democrats don't agree, reflecting industry concerns.

The government has proposed, however, increasing taxes on nuclear power capacity by 17 percent from 2015, and stepping up safety requirements.

Nuclear power provides about 40 percent of Sweden's electricity, and the country's energy-intensive industrial companies, such as metal producers, are concerned that shutting reactors could lead to higher power prices.

Vattenfall hasn't changed its plans regarding its oldest reactors, Ringhals 1 and Ringhals 2, which are expected to be decommissioned in around the middle of the next decade.

"We are still planning for 50 years for Ringhals 1 and 2 and at least 60 years of operation for the remaining reactors," Kryssare said.

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Mark Potter)