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What Sweden’s Previous Uranium Moratorium Meant

The moratorium was a prohibition on uranium extraction originally introduced in 2018 through amendments to the Swedish environmental code (“miljöbalken”). It was applied to both uranium mined as a primary product and as a by-product (e.g., during alum shale extraction). Mining of the Alum Shale formation for other minerals and metals was allowed, just like any other mining.

Key implications of the moratorium:

  • Uranium may not be extracted in Sweden, not even as a by-product in other mining operations.
  • Critical metals such as vanadium (V), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), molybdenum (Mo), and rare earth elements (REEs) will remain of interest for mineral exploration and potential mining of alum shales despite the ban.
  • Uranium would need to be treated as hazardous waste, which is environmentally and economically inefficient, and in a mining scenario uranium would be put back in the tailings.
  • Sweden will remain dependent on imported uranium from countries with lower environmental standards, such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Niger, and Namibia.

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