All opposition parties have accepted Ebba Busch's invitation. They hope that the talks will deal with more than nuclear power and that there can be serious negotiations.
We are primarily interested in a broad energy policy agreement, says Fredrik Olovsson, business policy spokesperson for The Social Democrats.
The major deficiency in the government's policy is that they do not have any answers on how to produce more electricity until 2035-2040, nuclear power will come later.
Time is running out
Last Friday, Busch said that she hopes the talks will result in broad support for new nuclear power. But also in concrete proposals for other power sources.
Around March 27, the government will present its proposal on how new nuclear power will be financed. So it's urgent that the opposition's views are taken into account, if the government wants.
We'll see how serious it is or if it's just a show when they invite us like this at five to twelve, says Linus Lakso, energy policy spokesperson for The Green Party.
Rickard Nordin, climate and energy policy spokesperson for The Centre Party, says that he is not willing to spend hundreds of billions of taxpayers' money on nuclear power without first exploring the alternatives.
When you're going to spend such incredibly large sums as the government is willing to do, you have to look at the alternatives. It's not serious to just look at nuclear power, says Nordin.
Massive criticism
The government's investigation proposal has received heavy criticism from the authorities. The criticism can be summarized as a happy calculation, that the issue is poorly investigated and that there is a high risk that other electricity production will be pushed aside when nuclear power is subsidized so heavily.
The Social Democrats, The Left Party, The Centre Party, and The Green Party agree on much of the criticism of the proposal. And they are united in that the government must put more effort into producing more electricity in the short term – even if their proposals differ.
We must take action here and now, such as reducing electricity taxes or investing in offshore and onshore wind power and solar energy. This will give us more electricity for industry, says Nordin.
Some of the investigation's proposals:
The program includes four to five large-scale reactors, which together can produce 4,000-6,000 megawatts.
Building these is estimated to cost 400 billion kronor at today's prices, of which the state will provide 300 billion in loan capital.
A price guarantee agreement that guarantees nuclear power companies at least 80 öre/kWh for 40 years in payment from the state.
A risk- and profit-sharing mechanism that is activated as needed.
The government's goal is for new nuclear power equivalent to at least two large-scale reactors to be in place by 2035.
