Finland narrows choices for the next type of nuclear reactor it will build.

[NNadir]

Fennovoima has narrowed its reactor selection to EPR and ABWR and added seven new shareholders.

The company has approval to build a new nuclear power plant in Finland and is considering two sites on the country's west coast: Simo and Pyhajoki. Both have been shown to be suitable in terms of environmental impact as well as local support and Fennovoima plans to make a final choice next year.

The reactor technology to be used has made an apparent step forward with the signing of 'technical development agreements' with Areva and Toshiba regarding their EPR and ABWR designs. The work will "ensure that these reactors fulfill both the Finnish safety requirements and Fennovoima's own technical requirements." An EPR is already under construction at Olkiluoto for the consumer-owned utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj...

...Following the 'Finnish model' of finance, Fennovoima is a project company primarily owned by industrial power consumers and resellers. While EOn has a major stake of 34%, the rest is held by Voimaosakeyhtiö SF which counts 69 organisations as its shareholders.

Late last week seven new companies were welcomed as Voimaosakeyhtiö shareholders. Four are municipally owned utilities in northern Finland (Haukiputaan Sähköosuuskunta, Keminmaan Energia, Raahen Energia and Tornion Energia), two are private utilities (Lammaisten Energia and Naantalin Energia). The last is Talvivaara Mining Company, a "considerable electricity consumer" in the region that may in future also produce uranium as a by-product from a nickel and zinc mine.

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN_Plans_and_partners_develop_for_Fennovoima_1912101.html">New Finnish Nuclear.

Were the choice up to me, I would recommend that the Finns go with the Areva design, as they already have a complement of engineers and construction crews who are familiar with the design and the FOAKE (First of a Kind Enginnering) costs have been paid.

Whatever the outcome, Finland is very serious about climate change.

[stevedeshazer]

1. +1

I'm in favor of responsible nuclear power.

Finland leads the way.

[Vogon_Glory]

2. Add Me To The List

Add me to the list. Despite my liberal-arts background, I have come to believe that humanity's reliance on the hydrocarbon industry for energy is a dangerously unstable, short-term, and short-sighted 'solution' that has already exacted a fearsome toll on the planetary eco-system. I am not at all convinced that renewables can pick up the slack as coal-fired, oil-fired, and gas-fired power plants are retired. We need responsible nuclear energy.

That is not to say that I'm unaware of the problems associated with uranium mining, fuel-rod storage, or that I am willing to give the nuclear industry my blind confidence. Bean-counters and brainless idiots who propose nuclear power plants near or on top of active fault lines and in low-lying coastal areas do need to be kept in check, as do the sorts of operators who would run their power plants the same ways the guys at Three Mile Island and at Chernobyl ran theirs.

As the evidence mounts concerning environmental damage across the planet, I've come to believe that a wealthy society is better able to protect the environment than poor ones, and that tight energy supplies encourage oligarchies and class oppression.