Nuclear power in Finland
Encyclopedia
As of 2008, Finland
's nuclear power
program has four nuclear reactor
s in two power plants
. The first of these came into operation in 1977. In 2007 they provided 28.4% of Finland's electricity. They are among the world's most productive, with average capacity factor
s of 94% in the 1990s. A fifth nuclear reactor is under construction, scheduled to go online in 2013.
, the plant comprises two VVER
-440 pressurized water reactors
built by Soviet Atomenergoexport, but fitted with Western instrumentation, containment structures and control systems. The plant is owned by Fortum
. Electrical production started in 1977 and 1980, with the plants now producing 488 MWe
each. On 26 July 2007 new licenses were granted to Fortum to operate the units until 2027 and 2030, conditional on safety reviews before 2015 and 2023.
, near Rauma
, the two boiling water reactor
s currently produce 1,720 MWe
total. Built by Swedish Asea-Atom (nowadays Westinghouse Electric Company
of the Toshiba
corporation), and owned by Teollisuuden Voima
(TVO), the plants began electricity production in 1978 and 1980.
The third Olkiluoto reactor is the first European Pressurized Reactor
(EPR). Scheduled to go on line in 2013 at fixed price of €3 billion ($4.1 billion), it will have a power output of 1,600 MWe. An 800 MW undersea transmission line from near Olkiluoto to Sweden
is scheduled to be completed in 2011, allowing additional power import and export.
The Olkiluoto-3 reactor is at least 37 months behind schedule after 42 months of construction, and some 50% over budget.
located in Otaniemi
, Espoo
; a TRIGA
Mark II, built in 1962. Owned by the Technical Research Centre of Finland, it has a power output of 250 kW (peak power 1,000 kW) and is mainly used in boron neutron capture therapy
treatment and research.
Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority
is responsible for regulation and inspection. It operates under the Council of State
(effectively the government), which licenses major nuclear facilities. STUK is under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, and is assisted by an Advisory Committee on Nuclear Safety in major matters.
were given as reasons for the decision. While hydroelectricity
is curtailed in dry years (range 9,455–14,865 GW·h 1990–2006), nuclear energy supplies near-constant amounts of energy, and studies showed that nuclear energy
was the cheapest option for Finland. The vote was seen as very significant for nuclear energy policy
in that it was the first decision to build a new nuclear power plant in Western Europe
for more than a decade. Areva
and Siemens
are building the new reactor at the Olkiluoto plant.
Teollisuuden Voima
(TVO) ordered the 1600 MW nuclear reactor from French Areva
and German Siemens
in 2003 with the fixed price of €3 billion and scheduled hand over time in the year 2009. In June 2010 the major newspaper Helsingin Sanomat
in Finland wrote that Olkiluoto 3 start up will take place in the beginning of 2013 and will take several months.
According to World Nuclear Association 2008: ” Experience has shown that each year of additional delay in the construction of a nuclear power plants adds another estimated $1 billion to the cost”. According to Greenpeace
the renewable energy
alternative was dropped in Finland as it was half a billion euros more expensive than the presented nuclear plant calculations. The environmental organization estimated the final nuclear power plant to be at least 2.5 billion € more expensive than the renewable alternative would have been.
Siemens
sold its 34% share of the shared company Areva NP to Areva in January 2009 with €2.1 billion. The European Union started the cartel
examination of nuclear cooperation of Areva and Siemens in June 2010. Areva NP was named previously Framatome.
, a subsidiary of E.ON
. A fourth reactor would be built accordingly at Olkiluoto by TVO. The application by Fortum to build a new reactor at Loviisa was declined. The Finnish Parliament approved the building permits on 1 July 2010.
In October 2011, Fennovoima announced that it had chosen Pyhäjoki
, in northern Finland, as the site for the country's third nuclear power plant. Construction is expected to start in 2015.
was initially shipped to the Soviet Union for reprocessing. After news of the 1957 Kyshtym disaster
at the Mayak
nuclear fuel reprocessing plant was made public this option was no longer seen as politically acceptable. The Finnish Nuclear Energy Act was amended in 1994 so that all nuclear waste
produced in Finland must be disposed of in Finland. All spent fuel would be permanently buried in bedrock. Olkiluoto was selected in 2000 to become the site of underground disposal of all of Finland's spent nuclear fuel. A documentary film, Into Eternity, about the waste repository has been released.
The Finnish public is among the most nuclear power-friendly nations in the EU: in a 2008 survey, production of electricity by means of nuclear power was supported by 61%, clearly above the EU average of 44%.
Related
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
's nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
program has four nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
s in two power plants
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
. The first of these came into operation in 1977. In 2007 they provided 28.4% of Finland's electricity. They are among the world's most productive, with average capacity factor
Capacity factor
The net capacity factor or load factor of a power plant is the ratio of the actual output of a power plant over a period of time and its potential output if it had operated at full nameplate capacity the entire time...
s of 94% in the 1990s. A fifth nuclear reactor is under construction, scheduled to go online in 2013.
Loviisa plant
Located in LoviisaLoviisa
Loviisa is a municipality and town of inhabitants on the southern coast of Finland. About 43 per cent of the population is Swedish-speaking.The municipality covers an area of of which is water...
, the plant comprises two VVER
VVER
The VVER, or WWER, is a series of pressurised water reactors originally developed by the Soviet Union, and now Russia, by OKB Gidropress. Power output ranges from 440 MWe to 1200 MWe with the latest Russian development of the design...
-440 pressurized water reactors
Pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
built by Soviet Atomenergoexport, but fitted with Western instrumentation, containment structures and control systems. The plant is owned by Fortum
Fortum
Fortum Oyj is a Finnish publicly listed energy company, which focuses on the Nordic and Baltic countries, Poland and the north-west of Russia. After acquisition of Russian energy company TGC-10 in year 2008, Western Siberia has become an important operating area for Fortum. The head of the company...
. Electrical production started in 1977 and 1980, with the plants now producing 488 MWe
MWE
MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...
each. On 26 July 2007 new licenses were granted to Fortum to operate the units until 2027 and 2030, conditional on safety reviews before 2015 and 2023.
Olkiluoto plant
Located in EurajokiEurajoki
Eurajoki is a municipality of Finland located in the region of Satakunta in the province of Western Finland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....
, near Rauma
Rauma, Finland
Rauma is a town and municipality of ca. inhabitants on the west coast of Finland, north of Turku, and south of Pori. Granted town privileges on May 17, 1442 , Rauma is known of its high quality lace , and of the old wooden architecture of its centre , which is a Unesco world heritage...
, the two boiling water reactor
Boiling water reactor
The boiling water reactor is a type of light water nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical power. It is the second most common type of electricity-generating nuclear reactor after the pressurized water reactor , also a type of light water nuclear reactor...
s currently produce 1,720 MWe
MWE
MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...
total. Built by Swedish Asea-Atom (nowadays Westinghouse Electric Company
Westinghouse Electric Company
Westinghouse Electric Company LLC is a nuclear power company, offering a wide range of nuclear products and services to utilities throughout the world, including nuclear fuel, service and maintenance, instrumentation and control and advanced nuclear plant designs...
of the Toshiba
Toshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
corporation), and owned by Teollisuuden Voima
Teollisuuden Voima
Teollisuuden Voima Oyj is a Finnish nuclear power company owned by a consortium of power and industrial companies. The biggest shareholders are Pohjolan Voima and Fortum...
(TVO), the plants began electricity production in 1978 and 1980.
The third Olkiluoto reactor is the first European Pressurized Reactor
European Pressurized Reactor
The EPR is a third generation pressurized water reactor design. It has been designed and developed mainly by Framatome , Electricité de France in France, and Siemens AG in Germany...
(EPR). Scheduled to go on line in 2013 at fixed price of €3 billion ($4.1 billion), it will have a power output of 1,600 MWe. An 800 MW undersea transmission line from near Olkiluoto to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
is scheduled to be completed in 2011, allowing additional power import and export.
The Olkiluoto-3 reactor is at least 37 months behind schedule after 42 months of construction, and some 50% over budget.
Otaniemi research reactor
There is a small research reactorResearch reactor
Research reactors are nuclear reactors that serve primarily as a neutron source. They are also called non-power reactors, in contrast to power reactors that are used for electricity production, heat generation, or maritime propulsion.-Purpose:...
located in Otaniemi
Otaniemi
Otaniemi , or Otnäs , is a district of Espoo, Finland. It is located near the border of Helsinki, the capital of Finland....
, Espoo
Espoo
Espoo is the second largest city and municipality in Finland. The population of the city of Espoo is . It is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area along with the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, and Kauniainen. Espoo shares its eastern border with Helsinki and Vantaa, while enclosing Kauniainen....
; a TRIGA
TRIGA
TRIGA is a class of small nuclear reactor designed and manufactured by General Atomics. The design team for TRIGA was led by the physicist Freeman Dyson.TRIGA is the acronym of Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics.-Design:...
Mark II, built in 1962. Owned by the Technical Research Centre of Finland, it has a power output of 250 kW (peak power 1,000 kW) and is mainly used in boron neutron capture therapy
Boron Neutron Capture Therapy
Boron neutron capture therapy is an experimental form of radiotherapy that uses a neutron beam that interacts with boron injected into a patient...
treatment and research.
Regulation and safety
Under the Nuclear Energy Act 1987 the Ministry of Trade and Industry is responsible for supervision of nuclear power operation and for waste disposal. It is assisted by an Advisory Committee on Nuclear Energy in major matters and also an Advisory Committee on Radiation Protection.Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority
Säteilyturvakeskus
Säteilyturvakeskus is the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, a government agency tasked with nuclear safety and radiation monitoring in Finland...
is responsible for regulation and inspection. It operates under the Council of State
Finnish Council of State
The Cabinet of Finland is the body that directs the Government of Finland. However, in governmental translations to English, the distinction is often blurred between cabinet and government in the wider sense...
(effectively the government), which licenses major nuclear facilities. STUK is under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, and is assisted by an Advisory Committee on Nuclear Safety in major matters.
New reactor construction
A cabinet decision in 2002 to allow the construction of a fifth nuclear reactor was accepted in parliament. Economic, energy security and environmental groundsNuclear power debate
The nuclear power debate is about the controversy which has surrounded the deployment and use of nuclear fission reactors to generate electricity from nuclear fuel for civilian purposes...
were given as reasons for the decision. While hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
is curtailed in dry years (range 9,455–14,865 GW·h 1990–2006), nuclear energy supplies near-constant amounts of energy, and studies showed that nuclear energy
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
was the cheapest option for Finland. The vote was seen as very significant for nuclear energy policy
Nuclear energy policy
Nuclear energy policy is a national and international policy concerning some or all aspects of nuclear energy, such as mining for nuclear fuel, extraction and processing of nuclear fuel from the ore, generating electricity by nuclear power, enriching and storing spent nuclear fuel and nuclear fuel...
in that it was the first decision to build a new nuclear power plant in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
for more than a decade. Areva
Areva
AREVA is a French public multinational industrial conglomerate headquartered in the Tour Areva in Courbevoie, Paris. AREVA is mainly known for nuclear power; it also has interests in other energy projects. It was created on 3 September 2001, by the merger of Framatome , Cogema and...
and Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
are building the new reactor at the Olkiluoto plant.
Teollisuuden Voima
Teollisuuden Voima
Teollisuuden Voima Oyj is a Finnish nuclear power company owned by a consortium of power and industrial companies. The biggest shareholders are Pohjolan Voima and Fortum...
(TVO) ordered the 1600 MW nuclear reactor from French Areva
Areva
AREVA is a French public multinational industrial conglomerate headquartered in the Tour Areva in Courbevoie, Paris. AREVA is mainly known for nuclear power; it also has interests in other energy projects. It was created on 3 September 2001, by the merger of Framatome , Cogema and...
and German Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
in 2003 with the fixed price of €3 billion and scheduled hand over time in the year 2009. In June 2010 the major newspaper Helsingin Sanomat
Helsingin Sanomat
Helsingin Sanomat is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. In 2008, its daily circulation was 412,421 on weekdays and 468,505 on Sundays...
in Finland wrote that Olkiluoto 3 start up will take place in the beginning of 2013 and will take several months.
According to World Nuclear Association 2008: ” Experience has shown that each year of additional delay in the construction of a nuclear power plants adds another estimated $1 billion to the cost”. According to Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
the renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
alternative was dropped in Finland as it was half a billion euros more expensive than the presented nuclear plant calculations. The environmental organization estimated the final nuclear power plant to be at least 2.5 billion € more expensive than the renewable alternative would have been.
Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
sold its 34% share of the shared company Areva NP to Areva in January 2009 with €2.1 billion. The European Union started the cartel
Cartel
A cartel is a formal agreement among competing firms. It is a formal organization of producers and manufacturers that agree to fix prices, marketing, and production. Cartels usually occur in an oligopolistic industry, where there is a small number of sellers and usually involve homogeneous products...
examination of nuclear cooperation of Areva and Siemens in June 2010. Areva NP was named previously Framatome.
Planned reactors
On 21 April 2010, the Government of Finland, notably with the Green League represented in it, decided to grant permits for construction of the sixth and seventh commercial reactors to Teollisuuden Voima and FennovoimaFennovoima
Fennovoima Ltd is a Finnish nuclear power company owned by E.ON and a consortium of Finnish power and industrial companies. E.ON Kärnkraft Finland owns 34% of Fennovoima and Voimaosakeyhtiö SF owns 66%. Voimaosakeyhtiö SF has 69 shareholders....
, a subsidiary of E.ON
E.ON
E.ON AG, marketed with an interpunct as E•ON, is the holding company of the world's largest investor-owned energy service provider based in Düsseldorf, Germany. The name comes from the Greek word aeon which means eternity....
. A fourth reactor would be built accordingly at Olkiluoto by TVO. The application by Fortum to build a new reactor at Loviisa was declined. The Finnish Parliament approved the building permits on 1 July 2010.
In October 2011, Fennovoima announced that it had chosen Pyhäjoki
Pyhäjoki
Pyhäjoki is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish.Fennovoima, a Finnish...
, in northern Finland, as the site for the country's third nuclear power plant. Construction is expected to start in 2015.
Nuclear waste
Spent fuel from the Loviisa Nuclear Power PlantLoviisa Nuclear Power Plant
Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant , is a nuclear power plant located close to the Finnish city of Loviisa. It houses two Soviet-designed VVER-440/213 PWR reactors, each with a capacity of 488 MW....
was initially shipped to the Soviet Union for reprocessing. After news of the 1957 Kyshtym disaster
Kyshtym disaster
The Kyshtym disaster was a radiation contamination incident that occurred on 29 September 1957 at Mayak, a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Russia...
at the Mayak
Mayak
Mayak Production Association refers to an industrial complex that is one of the biggest nuclear facilities in the Russian Federation. It housed plutonium production reactors and a reprocessing plant...
nuclear fuel reprocessing plant was made public this option was no longer seen as politically acceptable. The Finnish Nuclear Energy Act was amended in 1994 so that all nuclear waste
Radioactive waste
Radioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine...
produced in Finland must be disposed of in Finland. All spent fuel would be permanently buried in bedrock. Olkiluoto was selected in 2000 to become the site of underground disposal of all of Finland's spent nuclear fuel. A documentary film, Into Eternity, about the waste repository has been released.
Political issues
The major parliamentary political parties of Finland consider support or opposition to nuclear power an issue that is left to each individual MP to decide. National Coalition, the Center Party and Social Democrats include both supporters and opponents of nuclear power. Only National Coalition has included the supportive stance in their party platform, but Center Party has expressed support for building more nuclear power plants and Social Democrats have not stated a party-wide view. Most small parliamentary parties have expressed opposition in their party platform: The Green League and Left Alliance explicitly oppose nuclear power, along with Swedish People's Party and True Finns. The exception are the Christian Democrats, who have not expressed a view.The Finnish public is among the most nuclear power-friendly nations in the EU: in a 2008 survey, production of electricity by means of nuclear power was supported by 61%, clearly above the EU average of 44%.
See also
- Renewable energy in FinlandRenewable energy in FinlandRenewable energy in Finland of electricity was : Water 60%, forest industry black liquor 22%, other wood residues 16%, wind power 0.2% and other RE 1 %. The European objectives are: 22% renewable source electricity and 12% renewable of primary energy in 2010 . This includes e.g...
- FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
→ Economy of FinlandEconomy of FinlandFinland has a highly industrialised, mixed economy with a per capita output equal to that of other western economies such as France, Germany, Sweden or the United Kingdom. The largest sector of the economy is services at 65.7 percent, followed by manufacturing and refining at 31.4 percent. Primary... - Politics of FinlandPolitics of FinlandPolitics of Finland takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic and of a multi-party system. The President of Finland is the head of state, leads the foreign policy, and is the Commander-in-chief of the Defense Forces. The Prime Minister of Finland is the head...
- Nuclear powerNuclear powerNuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
→ Nuclear energy policyNuclear energy policyNuclear energy policy is a national and international policy concerning some or all aspects of nuclear energy, such as mining for nuclear fuel, extraction and processing of nuclear fuel from the ore, generating electricity by nuclear power, enriching and storing spent nuclear fuel and nuclear fuel... - World Nuclear Industry Status ReportWorld Nuclear Industry Status ReportThe World Nuclear Industry Status Report is a yearly report that explores the global challenges facing the nuclear power industry. The reports show that the share of nuclear-generated electricity in the overall global energy production has decreased in the 2000s...
Related
- Nuclear power in SwedenNuclear power in SwedenSweden has an energy policy focused on hydroelectricity, which has been supplemented by nuclear power starting in 1965.The country began research into nuclear energy in 1947 with the establishment of the Atomic Energy Research Organization. In 1964, the country built its first small heavy water...
- Nuclear power in RussiaNuclear power in RussiaIn 2010 total electricity generated in nuclear power plants in Russia was 170.1 TWh, 16% of all power generation. The installed capacity of Russian nuclear reactors stood at 21,244 MW....