STOCKHOLM, April 10 (Reuters) - The Swedish government said on Friday it plans to take a 60% stake in nuclear development company Videberg Kraft as it looks to kick start the construction of a new generation of reactors to replace its aging atomic power plants.
The government has said nuclear power is vital to meet an expected surge in demand for electricity as industry and the transport sector shift away from fossil fuels. Critics say renewables like onshore wind would be cheaper and much quicker to build.
"Sweden is a nuclear nation. We are now taking the next step to clarify the state's role and responsibility in the further development of nuclear power," Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch said in a statement.
The government said it would seek parliamentary approval to buy shares in Videberg Kraft and for a capital injection at a cost of 1.8 billion Swedish crowns ($195 million) in the short term.
The government also will seek a mandate for additional funding for the company of up to 34.3 billion during the period new reactors are under construction.
Videberg Kraft is currently 80% owned by Swedish power group Vattenfall with the remaining 20% held by a group of Sweden's largest companies.
The government has said it wants Sweden to build the equivalent of around 10 new, full-size reactors by 2045 to complement the six currently in operation.
To overcome the private sector's unwillingness to fund new reactors - recent builds in the UK and France have been hit massive cost overruns and delays - the government has offered cheap loans and price guarantees to developers for 5,000 MW of new capacity.
Vattenfall's Videberg Kraft subsidiary plans to build several small, modular reactors with around 1,500 megawatts of combined capacity at the site of its Ringhals nuclear facility in south-west Sweden and applied for funding in December.
The government also said it wanted a green light from parliament to shoulder part of the cost of dealing with spent nuclear fuel and waste from the new reactor programme, which it estimates could be as high as as 183 billion crowns. The private sector will share the cost if further reactors are built.
Sweden's electricity generation is already essentially fossil-free, with around 40% coming from hydro-electric power, 29% from nuclear, 21% from wind, 8% from thermal power and 2% from solar.
(Reporting by Simon Johnson and Anna Ringstrom, editing by Louise Rasmussen, Terje Solsvik and Christina Fincher)
