Government endorses two new nuclear reactors

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The government is endorsing the applications of two companies for the construction of two new nuclear reactors. The government decided on Wednesday evening to back the bids of TVO and Fennovoima.
      The third applicant, Fortum, was dropped. Fortum runs two of Finland’s four existing nuclear facilities. Its Loviisa reactors are expected to reach the end of their life cycles in the late 2020s. Fortum is now considering taking part in nuclear energy projects outside of Finland.
     
Finland’s two other existing nuclear plants are owned by TVO in Olkiluoto, where Finland’s fifth reactor is currently under construction. Olkiluoto is to be the location of TVO’s next nuclear reactor as well.
      Fennovoima is a newcomer to the nuclear energy game. It plans to build the first nuclear power station in the north of Finland, either in Simo in Finnish Lapland, or Pyhäjoki in North Ostrobothnia.
     
One government party, the Green League, plans to vote against the proposed nuclear plant when it comes before the government. The National Coalition Party would have wanted to grant licences to all three applicants, but agreed to settle for two.
      Under Finnish law, Parliament grants licences to build nuclear power plants. The measure could come to a Parliamentary vote sometime in the autumn.
     
Minister of Economic Affairs Mauri Pekkarinen (Centre Party) said that granting two licences would bring competition to the electricity market.
      Another aim is to help Finland achieve self-sufficiency in electricity production, and to get rid of electricity imports from Russia.
     
Fennovoima has neither existing nuclear power stations, nor a place of its own for final storage of radioactive waste. It hopes that it will be allowed to send its waste to the Posiva underground storage area in Olkiluoto.
      However, Mauri Pekkarinen noted that Posiva cannot be compelled to take Fennovoima’s waste. Therefore, a condition was attached to the government’s decision to support Fennovoima’s application, according to which the company must produce a detailed plan of final storage of nuclear waste within six years.
     
So why did the government accept the applications of Fennovoima and TVO and not Fortum?
      One possible reason could be the different business in which the companies operate.
      Both TVO and Fennovoima are structured as cooperatives, which means that they can generate electricity at cost-price for their owners as an alternative to more expensive electricity on the market. The companies are essentially owned by large Finnish enterprises which employ many people.
      Fortum, meanwhile, is a stock market company which sells the electricity it produces at a profit. The biggest shareholder in Fortum is the Finnish state.
     
TVO’s biggest owner is the Finnish forest industry (by way of the energy company Pohjolan Voima).
      A third of Fennovoima is owned by the German company E.ON, another third by large Finnish industrial and commerce companies, such as Kesko and Outokumpu, and the rest is owned by dozens of energy utilities, most of which are municipally owned.
     
Pekkarinen has previously leaned toward granting one licence rather than two. Now he says that the forest industry had convinced him that the energy-intensive sector plans to invest in Finland in the future as well.
      At a press conference held at the Prime Minister’s residence Kesäranta, Pekkarinen, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) and Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen (Nat. Coalition Party) emphasised three key points why they felt that increased nuclear energy was needed.
      They said that the decision would reduce carbon dioxide emissions, secure Finnish self-sufficiency in electricity production, and that affordable electricity would serve as a signal to Finnish industry, indicating that Finland is worth investing in.
     
Green League chairwoman, Minister of Labour Anni Sinnemäki voiced disappointment with what she called a risky decision.
      She said that the Greens would bring a competing proposal to the government.
      There was also criticism from other quarters. Environmental organisations said that the government is turning Finland into the world’s biggest producer of nuclear waste.
      “A majority in government has caved in to the National Coalition Party, and has decided to produce as much new nuclear energy as is practically possible”, said Left Alliance leader Paavo Arhinmäki.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland to erect up to 900 new windmills to generate electricity (21.4.2010)
  Parliamentary Speakeŕs Council likely to decide on voting order of nuclear licences (16.4.2010)
  Nuclear plant application to come before Parliament this spring (1.3.2010)

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