Fortum holding back nuclear application

Fennovoima, an energy company hoping to get authorisation to build a sixth commercial nuclear reactor in Finland, submitted its application for a licence on Wednesday to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy.
      An application is also expected from the energy company Fortum, which runs two of the four reactors that operate in Finland, but which appears to have been dragging its feet in the matter.
      Fortum will not be able to put things off for very long. Minister of Economic Affairs, Mauri Pekkarinen (Centre), expressed the hope on Wednesday, that a third application, if it were forthcoming, would be submitted as soon as possible.
     Pekkarinen and the government hope that the applications for the next nuclear reactor could come before Parliament in the spring of 2010, so that the matter can be dealt with in good time before the Parliamentary elections of 2011.
     Finland has four commercial nuclear reactors operation, and a fifth is now being built in Olkiluoto in the southwest, where two of the existing reactors are located. It has been suggested that a sixth reactor could be set up near the two other existing reactors in Loviisa on the south coast.
     
Fortum has made plans and environmental impact reports on the construction of a third reactor in Loviisa. Peter Tuominen, who heads planning for a third reactor, says that the reports are ready, and that submitting an application is to be considered by the company’s management and its board of directors.
     He did not want to anticipate what the decision of the board of directors might be.
     
One expert told Helsingin Sanomat that Fortum might not submit an application for a new nuclear facility, if it thinks that it is not in a strong position in the competition.
     Staying out of the race is made easier for Fortum by the fact that it is involved in the project in any case. The company has a 25 per cent stake in the energy company TVO, which submitted an application last spring for the construction of a fourth reactor at Olkiluoto.
     
Political debate on a sixth reactor begins in earnest in the autumn, after summer holidays. The a new applicant, Fennovoima, is seen to be in a fairly strong position.
     Speaking in favour of Fennovoima is the fact that it is backed by sectors of industry and local electric utilities which have no ownership in existing nuclear generation, or any electricity production of their own.
     Fennovoima would bring a stake in nuclear electricity generation to metal and steel manufacturers such as Outokumpu and Rautaruukki, which are not holders of TVO stock.
     Giving the licence for a new reactor to either TVO or Fortum would favour sectors that are already heavily into nuclear production.
     
When the third reactor at Olkiluoto is finished, Fortum will own 43 per cent of Finland’s nuclear generating capacity, while the forest industry company UPM will have 23 per cent.
     Two other pulp and paper manufacturers, Stora Enso and M-real, have a combined 11 per cent stake in the nuclear industry. Helsinki Energy is another large owner of nuclear generating capacity. When Olkiluoto 3 is completed, the electric utility of the Finnish capital will have about ten per cent of the country’s nuclear output.
     
Fennovoima CEO Tapio Saarenpää pointed out while putting forward his company’s application, that ownership of nuclear energy sources in Finland is very concentrated. The inclusion of Fennovoima would disperse ownership and promote security.
     The weakest link in the Fennovoima project could be the one-third stake of the German energy company EOn, which is needed for credibility.
     In its application, Fennovoima seeks a licence for three alternate locations: Simo, Pyjäjoki, and Ruotsinpyhtää.
     
The apparent reason for this is to offer several options for a political decision.
     If the government and Parliament want to promote regional development policy, they can choose Simo in Finnish Lapland, or Pyhäjoki in the northern part of the West Coast. Ruotsinpyhtää, on the south coast, would be the choice if decision-makers do not want the next reactor to be far away from the existing installations. The proposed site in Ruotsinpyhtää is located very close to the two Fortum reactors in Loviisa.
     
In the political debate it is possible for the government to bring the applications of both Fennovoima and TVO before Parliament, and let Parliament decide whether to approve just one, both, or neither.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Nuclear authority angered by shortcomings in reactor construction (3.11.2008)
  Greenpeace denounces Finland́s nuclear energy programme (17.9.2008)
  Technology industry wants two more nuclear reactors (24.4.2008)
  Pekkarineńs comments on nuclear power take ministry and Fennovoima by surprise (25.4.2008)

Links:
  Fennovoima
  TVO
  Fortum