Finland may boost nuclear power production
Finland want to reduce import of electricity from Russia by building more own nuclear power. One of the new possible sites for construction of a nuclear power plant is in the Finnish part of the Barents Region.
One of the possible location sites to be considered for a new Finnish nuclear power plant is in the municipality of Simo in Lapland.
15 percent of all power consumption in Finland comes from imports, mainly from Russia. According to Bloomberg Business Week, Finland bought electricity from Russia amounting to €365 million in 2009.
Bloomberg quotes Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen saying “We should not be dependent on them and there is no sense in paying Russia for electricity we could produce ourselves.”
More nuclear power is a highly controversial issue in Finland. Opponents say nuclear energy is too dangerous and Finland should seek other options.
Finland has two nuclear power plants with two operating reactors each, both located in the southern part of Finland, at Loviisa and Olkiluoto. A fifth reactor is under construction at Olkiluoto.
Today, Finland’s import of electricity from Russia comes from both the Kola nuclear power plant in Murmansk Oblast and from Leningrad nuclear power plant outside St. Petersburg.
It is the company Fennovoima that considers Simo in Lapland as location site for the first nuclear power plant in the Finnish part of the Barents Region. For over two years, Fennovoima has made extensive studies in the alternative sites related to issues concerning safety, environmental and social impacts as well as impacts related to the construction and operation of the plant, the company says on their web-portal.
The Finnish Government is expected to make the decision of who will get the licence or licences in later this spring, and the Parliament is expected to process the decision later in 2010.
