Country profile: Finland

Summary figures for 2010

Country
Number of nuclear power plants connected to the grid
Nuclear electricity generation
(net TWh) 2010
Nuclear percentage of total electricity supply
Finland
4
21.9
28.4
  
OECD Europe
144
868.5
24.7
  
OECD Total
342
2 183.7
21.8
  

Country report

The Finnish private utility Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO) was granted a construction license for the Olkiluoto 3 pressurised water reactor (type EPR, European pressurised water reactor) in February 2005. The reactor’s thermal output will be 4 300 MW and electric output about 1 600 MW.

The construction of the plant unit started in the summer of 2005 and the plant unit is planned to start commercial operation in 2012 approximately. There have been some problems with the design and construction works and the project is delayed by approximately three years compared with the original schedule.

Fortum Power and Heat Oy (Fortum) was granted in July 2007 new 20‑year operating licenses for its Loviisa 1 and 2 PWR units. Fortum is planning that both units would have at least 50 years lifetime and end their operation around 2030.

According to Finland’s new energy and climate strategy, nuclear power is an option also in the future but the initiatives have to come from the industry. TVO and Fortum decided in March 2007 to commence an environmental impact assessment (EIA) process at their Olkiluoto and Loviisa nuclear power plants for new nuclear power plant units, possibly to be built adjacent to the existing units.

As stipulated in the Nuclear Energy Act, an EIA process must be carried out in Finland before an application for a decision-in-principle (DIP) can be submitted to the Government. In the first phase of the EIA process, possible alternatives for carrying out the nuclear power project will be described. In addition, a detailed report on how the new unit’s possible impacts on the surrounding communities, the environment, nature and utilisation of natural resources will be studied is composed during the first phase of the EIA process.

During the EIA process, the citizens of Eurajoki and Loviisa municipalities and surrounding communities, as well as other stakeholders including the Baltic Rim countries, were provided an opportunity to express their opinions on the EIA and to influence how it will be carried out. Later on, stakeholders had an opportunity to comment on the actual estimated environmental impacts. TVO and Fortum processes were completed in 2008. The Ministry of Employment and the Economy (MEE) is the coordinating authority for the EIA processes.

TVO filed in its decision-in-principle application for Olkiluoto 4 in April 2008 and Fortum for Loviisa 3 in February 2009. The new plant unit would be in operation before 2020.

In June 2007, a new company Fennovoima Oy initiated its new nuclear project. A consortium of industrial and energy companies (34% share for the German company E.ON) formed this new power company with the aim of constructing a new unit (1 500-1 800 MW) or two units (2×1 250 MW) in Finland that could be operational by 2020.

The most important question of this initiative is that Fennovoima is still searching for a site for its project. Fennovoima started the EIA process early 2008 with four candidate municipalities; Kristiinankaupunki, Simo, Pyhäjoki and Ruotsinpyhtää, but later dropped Kristiinankaupunki from the site list. It filed in the decision-in-principle application in January 2009.

The MEE is processing all DIP applications during 2009 and the Government plans to take its decisions in late 2009 or early 2010. If there is a positive DIP, then it has to be ratified by the Parliament. This is due to take place in 2010.

Posiva Oy started in 2004 the construction of the underground laboratory (rock characterisation facility) named ONKALO for final disposal of the spent nuclear fuel. ONKALO is intended to be a part of the final repository. By the end of 2008, ONKALO has reached the depth of more than 300 metres and the length more than 3.3 kilometres. The construction of the final disposal facility is expected to commence in 2014 and the disposal operations are planned to start in 2020.

Source: Nuclear Energy Data 2009

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Last reviewed: 7 October 2011