[credit_guy]

Yes, Sweden had a nuclear weapons program and they stopped short of building a bomb. But things are very different today.

There are 2 main differences. Sweden has signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and Sweden is now a member of NATO. Both of these things result in Sweden being extremely unlikely to be able to pursue a nuclear weapons program in a clandestine way. And the article doesn't even imply that it would try that, given that it talks about a Nordic compact to pursue the bomb.

Announcing to everyone that you are trying to get the bomb implies that you first withdraw from the NPT. Legally, all the nuclear suppliers (such as Urenco) are obligated to immediately stop shipments to you. All your nuclear power plants will run on fumes. Once you run out of whatever inventories you have (most importantly nuclear fuel), you need to find way to supply yourself with what you need. Sweden gets 30% of its electricity from nuclear power plants [1]. If the population really, really wants to pursue a bomb, they can probably tough it out and find ways to overcome a 30% drop in electricity generation. But it's a tall ask.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_Sweden