Nuclear Power in Finland

(updated 15 February 2010)

• Finland has four nuclear reactors providing 27% of its electricity.
• A fifth reactor was approved by the government in 2002, on economic, energy security and environmental grounds. This is now under construction, behind schedule and over budget, for 2012 start-up. More are planned.
• Provisions for radioactive waste disposal are well advanced.

Finland generates about 82 billion kWh per year and has a very high per capita electricity consumption - some 16,000 kWh per head per year. While some of it comes from hydro (12.6 TWh, 15.5% in 2009), much of it is either imported (12.4 TWh, 15.3% net in 2009) or generated from imported fuels (mostly coal and some gas). All of its gas comes from Russia, and 14% of 2009 electricity was from Russia.

Finland's four existing reactors (2696 MWe net total) generated a record 22.6 billion kWh net in 2009, 27.8% of the country's electricity. They are among the world's most efficient, with average capacity factors reaching 94%. Two are operated by Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO) and two by Fortum Corporation. TVO was founded in 1969 by a number of companies to build and operate large power plants, supplying the electricity to shareholders at cost.

Finnish reactors are remarkable in the extent to which they have been uprated since they were built. TVO's Olkiluoto 1 & 2 started up in 1978-80 at 690 MWe (gross - 658 MWe net), they now produce 870 MWe each (26% more, gross) and their lifetime has been extended to 60 years, subject to safety evaluation every decade. They are Swedish boiling water reactors. TVO now proposes progressively to uprate them further to 1000 MWe each, starting with replacement low-pressure turbines in 2009-11.

Fortum's two units at Loviisa are Russian, with western control systems, and have been uprated 9.7%, from 465 MWe (gross) in 1977-80 to 510 MWe. They have an expected operating lifetime of 50 years, though were originally licensed for only 30. A 20 year licence extension was recommended by the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) and granted in mid 2007, taking them to 2027 and 2030, subject to safety evaluation in 2015 and 2023.

Fortum Corporation is a public listed energy company which is 51% owned by the Finnish government.
TVO is a public-private partnership company, 43% government-owned (including 27% by Fortum), 57% private, with the owners taking their shares of electricity at cost, any unwanted portion being sold by them into the Nordic market. This means that output is effectively contracted to each owner over the life of the plant. The private owners are mostly heavy industry with a high demand for base-load power, and hence low costs are critical for them.

Finland's nuclear power reactors:

	Type	MWe net	Commercial operation	Licensed to
Loviisa 1	VVER-440	488	1977	2027
Loviisa 2	VVER-440	488	1981	2030
Olkiluoto 1	BWR	860	1979	2039
Olkiluoto 2	BWR	860	1982	2042
Total (4)		2696

Nuclear expansion: 5th unit

Following an application made in November 2000 by TVO, in May 2002 Finland's parliament voted 107-92 to approve building a fifth nuclear power plant, to be in operation about 2009. There was intense debate leading up to the decision. The vote was seen as very significant in that it is the first such decision to build a new nuclear power plant in Western Europe for more than a decade. Parliament had rejected a similar proposal in 1993, but the political climate throughout Europe had since become much more favourable to nuclear energy.

TVO's application for a new reactor was based primarily on economic criteria (lowest kWh cost, lowest sensitivity to fuel price increases), but it noted the considerable energy security and greenhouse benefits. Government support for the proposal was based mainly on climate policy, while its detractors supported a massive increase in natural gas use (from Russia) for electricity generation. Projections suggested that about 7500 MWe of additional capacity was needed in Finland by 2030.

The country's 1997 energy policy stressed availability, security, diversity, price, and the need to meet international environmental commitments. For electricity, Finland is part of the deregulated Nordic system which faces shortages, especially in any dry years which curtail hydroelectric generation. With growing demand and the need to ensure reliable economic supply over the long term, various studies were carried out which showed that nuclear was the cheapest option for Finland.

Figures published in 2000 showed that nuclear had very much higher capital costs than the others - EUR 1749/kW including initial fuel load, which is about three times the cost of a gas plant. But its fuel costs are much lower, and so at capacity factors above 64% it was the cheapest option.

August 2003 figures put nuclear costs at EUR 2.37 c/kWh, coal 2.81 c/kWh and natural gas at 3.23 c/kWh (on the basis of 91% capacity factor, 5% interest rate, 40 year plant life). With emission trading @ EUR 20/t CO2, the electricity prices for coal and gas increase to 4.43 and 3.92 c/kWh respectively:

The 2000 study also quantified fuel price sensitivity to electricity costs:

These show that a doubling of fuel prices would result in the electricity cost for nuclear rising about 9%, for coal rising 31% and for gas 66%. In fact gas prices have risen substantially since the study was carried out, partly reflected in the 2003 figures above.

The site of the new unit was decided in October 2003 to be at TVO's Olkiluoto plant in the south-west, with two nuclear reactors already in operation there.

Six potential designs were submitted to TVO and reviewed by the national regulatory authority: three pressurised water reactors (US, Franco-German and Russian) and three boiling water reactors (US-Japanese, Swedish, and German). They ranged from 1000 to 1550 MWe.*

* In March 2003 tenders were submitted by three vendors for four designs: Framatome ANP: European Pressurised Water Reactor (EPR) of 1600 MWe and the SWR-1000 (a BWR) of 1200 MWe; General Electric: European Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) of 1390 MWe, and Atomstroyexport: VVER-91/99 of 1060 MWe. (Westinghouse did not bid its AP-1000 PWR or its BWR-90+)

In October 2003 TVO announced that Framatome ANP's 1600 MWe European Pressurised water Reactor (EPR) was the preferred plant on the basis of operating cost. Siemens AG will provide the turbines and generators. TVO signed a EUR 3.2 billion contract with Areva and Siemens for an EPR unit in December 2003. Meanwhile bids to TVO for shares of the 1600 MWe output totalled 2000 MWe.

Construction started May 2005 but delays have been encountered and the reactor is expected to come into commercial operation in mid 2012. The cost overrun is reported to be EUR 1.5 billion, and Areva has made provision for this in its accounts.

An 800 MWe undersea transmission line from near Olkiluoto to Sweden is expected to be completed in 2010, allowing power export.

Sixth unit

In March 2007 TVO and Fortum commenced environmental impact assessments (EIA) for new nuclear power units at the Olkiluoto and Loviisa sites respectively. This would clear the way for either company to seek government approval for a new unit, though no investment decision had been made. TVO's EIA for Olkiluoto-4 was submitted to the government in February 2008, for a 1000-1800 MWe PWR or BWR unit. Fortum's plans for an EIA on a 1000-1800 MWe unit at Loviisa were submitted in June 2007.

A range of designs are under consideration for the sixth unit. TVO has been looking at replicating the Olkiluoto-3 EPR, but is also considering Toshiba's ABWR, GE-Hitachi's ESBWR, Mitubishi's APWR and the slightly smaller Korean APR-1400. Fortum is reported to be interested in Russia's new 1150 MWe version of the well-proven VVER-1000 (AES-2006), Toshiba's ABWR and GE-Hitachi ESBWR.

In April 2008 TVO applied to the Council of State for approval in principle to build a new 1000-1800 MWe plant - Olkiluoto 4. It also submitted to the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority feasibility studies on five alternative designs for it.

In June 2007 a new consortium of industrial and energy companies announced plans to establish a joint venture company - Fennovoima Oy - to construct a new nuclear power plant in Finland. The group consisted initially of stainless steel producer Outokumpu, mining and smelting company Boliden, energy utilities Rauman Energia and Katterno Group, and electricity supplier E.On Suomi (the Finnish subsidiary of Germany-based E.On) which is leading the project. Then the ownership base expanded from five to over 60 as electricity consumers sought to insure against future energy cost blowouts. All co-owners will be entitled to a pro-rata share of output at cost from the proposed new nuclear power plant and will not have to buy in a wholesale market influenced by future gas prices. Fennovoima is 66% owned by Power Company SF and 34% by EOn Nordic, a subsidiary of Germany's EOn. Power Company SF itself is 55% owned by Finnish industrial, retail and services enterprises and 45% owned by local and regional energy companies. In total, there are 64 shareholders in Fennovoima.

Fennovoima aims to construct a new 1500-2500 MWe nuclear power plant, to start operating by 2020, which will provide electricity for its owners at production cost, with each partner getting a share of output in proportion to its share of ownership. One-third of generating capacity will be reserved for Finnish industrial, manufacturing and service companies, one-third will be for regional and local energy companies, and one-third will be for EOn Suomi.

In January 2009 Fennovoima submitted its application to the Finnish government for a decision-in-principle on the construction of the new nuclear power plant. This is expected to lead to a government decision on the proposal in 2010. The company presented three site alternatives, all cleared in the environmental assessment already concluded, and all in government-defined development areas. Later in 2009 Loviisa was withdrawn and the focus is now on two northern sites. The proposed plant will be 1500 – 2500 MWe and utilize one of three designs: Areva's EPR or SWR-1000 (a boiling water reactor), or Toshiba's version of the ABWR. District heating is a to be a by-product. Construction start in 2012 is envisaged.

In February 2009 Fortum submitted its application to the Finnish government for a decision-in-principle on the construction of the new nuclear power plant at Loviisa. The company is considering five designs, with installed capacity of 1,000 MW to 1,800 MWe and estimates a unit's cost at EUR 4 to 6 billion. The application includes the possibility of using the reactor to supply half of the district heating for Helsinki, 80 km away, but the pipeline would cost up to EUR 1.3 billion. The unit could go online in 2020 or 2021. The government is considered likely to make a decision on this and the two other applications by mid 2010.

Public opinion

A Gallup public opinion poll in October 2009 asked those surveyed what their first choice would be for improving energy self-sufficiency. The construction of more nuclear power generating capacity was favoured 31%. Wind power was the next most popular, at 25%, and bio-energy was favoured by 22%.

In January 2010, a TNS Gallup survey (N=1000) commissioned by Finnish Energy Industries (Energiateollisuus, ET) showed that 48% of Finns had a positive view of nuclear power, and only 17% were negative. The gap between the two was the widest since polling began 28 years earlier. Among women, 33% were positive and 23% negative. Among Green League supporters, 37% were negative, down from 57% five years before, and 21% were positive. The survey also found the highest ever proportion of young people aged 15-24 in favour of nuclear power, at 30%. The percentage of 15-24 year olds registering negative attitudes was likewise the lowest the surveys have ever recorded, at 10%.

Fuel and enrichment supplies

TVO has bought uranium from Canada, Australia and Africa, had it converted to UF6 in Canada and France, and enriched in Russia. Fuel fabrication has been in Germany, Sweden and Spain.

IVO* initially contracted for a complete fuel supply service from Russia for the Loviisa plant. Subsequently, it contracted with BNFL to supply half of its fuel.

* In 1998 state-owned IVO merged with the oil company Neste to form Fortum. The government then sold 20% of its stake.

Early in 2010 Talvivaara Mining announced that it planned to recover 350 t/yr U3O8 as a by-product of nickel and zinc production in eastern Finland.

Waste management

Responsibility for nuclear wastes remains with the power companies until its final disposal.

Finland's nuclear waste management program was initiated in 1983. The 1987 Nuclear Energy Act had final disposal as an option, and set up the nuclear waste management fund under the Ministry of Trade & Industry. The 1994 amendment of the Act stipulates that wastes should be handled wholly in the country (the prior arrangement with Russia for Loviisa spent fuel finished in 1996)*.

* Until 1996 used fuel from Loviisa was returned to the Mayak reprocessing complex near Chelyabinsk in Russia, under a complete fuel cycle service arrangement connected with the supply of reactors by Atomenergoexport to IVO, then state-owned.

At Olkiluoto a surface pool storage for spent fuel has been in operation since 1987. The EUR 31 million KPA facility has 1270 tonne capacity and is designed to hold spent fuel for about 50 years, pending deep geological disposal. It took two years to build.

At Loviisa, expanded interim storage pools required by expiry of the Russian arrangement were commissioned in 2000, having cost EUR 7 million.

Posiva Oy was set up in 1995 as Finland's joint-venture company for final disposal of spent nuclear fuel - 60% TVO and 40% Fortum. It has well advanced plans for a deep geological repository for encapsulated spent fuel at Eurajoki near Olkiluoto, some 500 metres down in 2 billion-year-old igneous rock.

The government set guidelines and a schedule for long-term nuclear waste management in 1983, soon after the four reactors started commercial operation. The policy included an absolute local right of veto on the siting process. Work on siting has proceeded over twenty years, including safety analyses, site selection and environment impact assessment.

Four locations were investigated by Posiva in some detail - all were technically suitable, and were covered in Posiva's environmental impact statement for the final repository. Some technical and rock characterisation data has been obtained from corresponding Swedish work by SKB. The Eurajoki site and the plans were ratified by parliament by a 159 to 3 vote in May 2001, recognising construction of the facility as a public good. The proposal also has strong local community support, and the Eurajoki Council voted 20:7 for it.

An underground characterisation facility or rock laboratory - ONKALO - is now being built at Eurajoki at 500 metre depth to verify the site selection over the next few years. This will then become the repository site. A construction licence for it and the encapsulation plant will be sought about 2012, with a view to operation from 2020. Construction of new disposal tunnels will continue progressively in parallel with operation. Posiva proposes that the final size of the repository should be sufficient for 12,000 tonnes of used fuel, and STUK has supported this figure.

Encapsulation will involve putting twelve fuel assemblies into a boron steel canister and enclosing this in a copper capsule. Each capsule will be placed in its own hole in the repository and backfilled with bentonite clay. Access will be maintained and the spent fuel will be recoverable.

The cost estimate for disposing of 2600 t of spent fuel from the four existing reactors during 40 years of operation is about EUR 818 million, including construction costs of EUR 228 million, encapsulation and operating costs EUR 538 million. With the fifth reactor, some 6500 tonnes of spent fuel will require disposal. By end of 2004, 1380 tU had been accumulated.

As of mid 2005, EUR 1.4 billion had been accumulated in the State Nuclear Waste Management Fund from charges on generated electricity. The charges are set annually by the government and also cover decommissioning. They are set in the light of assessed liabilities for each company - for 2003 EUR 732 million for TVO and EUR 545 million for Fortum. Overall costs of radioactive waste management, including decommissioning, are estimated at EUR 0.23 cents/kWh undiscounted - about 10% of total power production cost.

An underground repository at Olkiluoto for low and intermediate-level operational wastes has been in operation since 1992. Construction of this VLJ cavern took three years and cost EUR 15 million. It is designed to be expanded to take eventual decommissioning wastes. A similar facility at Loviisa has been operational since 1998. Posiva is not responsible for these facilities, but compiles their operating plans and reports annually on them. By end of 2004 5400 cubic metres of waste was in them.

Reactor decommissioning is the responsibility of the two power companies separately, and plans are updated every five years.

Regulation and safety

Under the Nuclear Energy Act 1987 the Ministry of Trade and Industry (KTM) 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.

The country's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) 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.

Non-proliferation

Finland is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapons state. Its safeguards agreement under the NPT came into force in 1972 and in 1995 it came under the Euratom safeguards arrangement. In 1998 it signed the Additional Protocol in relation to its safeguards agreements with both IAEA and Euratom.

Main Sources:
IAEA 2003, Country Nuclear Power Profiles
Posiva 2003, Annual Review 2002.
Tapio Saarenpaa, paper at WNA Mid-term meeting, April 2002.
Juhani Vira, Taking it step by step - Finland's spent fuel, Radwaste Solutions Sept-Oct 2001.
Mauno Paavola, paper at WNA Symposium, Sept 2001.
Nucleonics Week 3/4/03.
Santaholma, J 2003, presentation to COP-9 meeting.

參考來源:World Nuclear Association