The government parties and the Sweden Democrats voted to lift the ban, while the opposition opposed the proposal. The Yes side won by a margin of one vote in the main vote.
The Tidö parties believe that if Sweden is to have nuclear power, it must also be open to mining the raw material, uranium.
I understand that many people are concerned about mining, that concern should be taken seriously, said member Jesper Skalberg Karlsson (M) in the debate, adding that he does not foresee large-scale uranium extraction in every forest edge.
Green Party spokesperson Amanda Lind is sharply critical. She was one of several politicians who received a petition outside the Riksdag this morning.
"It is a huge betrayal of all those who live near Sweden's uranium deposits. Now people once again have to live with the fear of seeing their neighborhood destroyed," she says.
Municipal veto
The decision also means that mines where small amounts of uranium are found will not be subject to permit requirements nor to the municipal veto. This may be the case when uranium is found as a secondary raw material.
The changes will be introduced in just two months, on January 1.
At the same time, the government wants to go a step further and in the future, it is expected that municipalities' ability to say no to uranium mining will disappear completely. The government wants uranium mining not to be called a nuclear facility, but a nuclear activity, which changes the ability to put a stop to it.
The proposal is out for consultation, but these changes could come into effect from July 1 next year.
In municipalities with large uranium reserves, including Falköping, Östersund and Vilhelmina, there are warnings of negative consequences for the environment, agricultural landscapes and animal husbandry. They say that water supplies could also be affected.
A: Local acceptance required
V, MP and C also point to several environmental and health risks in allowing uranium mining again and the Social Democrats are very critical of weakening the municipal veto.
Local acceptance is required, that you have the municipalities affected by a mine with you, said S member Isak From.
At the same time, S can consider mining uranium on a smaller scale.
We have reassessed our policy and see that we need to allow secondary uranium extraction to utilize the residual products mined in existing mines, says From.
The ban on uranium mining was introduced in 2018 by the then S-MP government.
