Finland

More partners pull out of Fennovoima nuclear project

Friday, November 15, 2013

The consortium of Finnish power companies backing a planned nuclear power plant in Pyhäjoki, western Finland is shrinking. Some 15 members of the Fennovoima public power consortium announced Thursday that they were pulling out of the project, leaving 45 partners still on board.

Thursday’s development saw 15 members of the Voimaosakeyhtiö SF announce their withdrawal from the planned nuclear power project in Ostrobothnia, western Finland. Voimaosakeyhtiö is a power consortium comprising 67 companies who jointly own Fennovoima.

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Fennovoima taps Russian supplier for nuke project

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

The Finnish power group Fennovoima has selected the Russian state nuclear company Rosatom to build its nuclear reactor in Pyhäjoki, northern Finland.

Fennovoima said on Tuesday that it will propose to its shareholders that a deal with Rosatom be signed by the end of this year, with the Russian firm taking a 34 percent stake in the project.

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Picking up the nuclear energy bill divides the EU

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) – European Union rules to be published over the coming weeks could make it easier to justify using taxpayers’ money to fund new nuclear power, which would pitch major EU powers against each other.

The European Commission, the EU executive, says its mind is still open on the topic, but it is under pressure to set a legal framework for state aid to nuclear projects after several member states, including Britain, sought its guidance.

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Finland's Fennovoima says may downsize reactor project

Monday, February 25, 2013

HELSINKI, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Finnish nuclear consortium Fennovoima said it was considering scaling back its planned nuclear reactor project in northern Finland after the exit of its top investor German utility E.ON.

It said it would choose Japan's Toshiba if it went ahead with original plans for a large, 1,600-megawatt reactor, dropping Areva who was previously another candidate.

Areva, Toshiba and Russia's Rosatom could be suppliers for a medium-sized reactor, Fennovoima said.

It said it aimed to choose the reactor supplier this year.

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Finland's Olkiluoto 3 reactor seen delayed to 2016

Monday, February 11, 2013

Feb 11 (Reuters) - Commercial production at Finnish nuclear reactor Olkiluoto 3 is likely to be delayed until 2016, utility Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) warned on Monday, the latest setback in plans for the country's fifth such plant.

TVO said there had been delays in planning the plant's automation system and that it had not yet received proper schedule updates from consortium Areva-Siemens , which is building the reactor.

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Areva Again Raises Estimate of Cost of Olkiluoto Reactor

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Chief Executive Luc Oursel said the reactor in Olkiluoto will ultimately cost about 8 billion euros, same as a similar reactor it is building in Flamanville, in northern France. That's well over the last cost estimate of around EUR6.4 billion.

"Our estimation is that the whole project (in Finland) will have a cost in constant euros close to Flamanville," Mr. Oursel said during a press conference.

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Government to rip up rulebook and subsidise new nuclear plants

Monday, October 22, 2012

The Government is planning to write a "blank cheque" to the nuclear industry by underwriting the cost of new power stations, leading energy academics have claimed in a letter to The Independent.

Under a major policy U-turn being considered by ministers, the taxpayer would be left to cover the cost of budget over-runs or building delays at new nuclear plants. Costly setbacks are almost inevitable with such complex construction projects.

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Wind taken out of nuclear powers sails

Thursday, August 2, 2012

It is one thing for a green pressure group to claim nuclear power is too expensive, but quite another when the charge comes from the head of an atomic industry pioneer such as General Electric.

GE built some of the world's first commercial atomic reactors in the 1950s and has remained an industry leader since its nuclear joint venture with Japan's Hitachi in 2007.

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Finland's Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant delayed again

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The launch of a flagship nuclear power station in Finland has been delayed for a third time, officials say.

Finnish electricity company TVO says the Olkiluoto 3 plant will not be ready by the latest deadline of 2014 and a new timetable has not yet been set.

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Sixteen states talk nuclear power

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The representatives of the 16 EU countries that have opted for nuclear energy have identified the four 'pillars' on which the EU's energy policy must be built: safety of sourcing, consumer purchasing power, industrial competitiveness and the fight against global warming.

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