The study does indicate, however, that such a move would result in substantial levels of expenditure and unresolved problems of carbon dioxide emissions. The decommissioning of the first of Sweden's 12 nuclear units, which together supply half of its electricity, is due to start next year with the closure of Barseback-1. A recent survey of parliament members indicated that over half would vote in favour of lifting a ban on the construction of new nuclear power plants in the country if asked to do so. There are no measures before government to challenge the ban, which has been in effect since 1993, but the issue of generating capacity has been raised due to unacceptable carbon dioxide emissions. The government is going to consider plans to build several nuclear power plants, with a total capacity of 4000 to 6000 MWe, over the next four to six years, according to science and new technology minister Vladimir Shkolnik.
Feasibility studies are in progress.
Kyushu Electric Power Company has announced that it is to scrap plans to build a nuclear power plant in the southern city of Kushima because of strong local opposition. Meanwhile, Indonesia's parliament ratified the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty on 12 March. The treaty, which bans nuclear weapons and nuclear dumping in waters in south east Asia, has already been ratified by Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma and Vietnam. The process for selecting the next Director General is among the items being discussed by the IAEA's Board of Governors, whose meetings began on 17 March. In particular, the Board is considering the sequence of steps to be followed in the event that consensus is not reached on any single candidate before the IAEA's General Conference in September.