WNN Articles
(Updated 9 June 2010)
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 nuclear (22.6 billion kWh, 27.8% in 2009) and 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). Coal is imported from Russia and Poland, all of its gas comes from Russia, and 14% of 2009 electricity was from Russia.
The country is part of the deregulated Nordic electricity system which faces shortages, especially in any dry years, when hydroelectric generation is curtailed.
Finland's four existing reactors (about 2700 MWe net total) are among the world's most efficient, with an average lifetime average capacity factor of over 85%a. Two boiling water reactors supplied by the Swedish company Asea Atomb are operated by Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO)c; and two modified Russian pressurized water reactors (VVER) with Western containment and control systems are operated by Fortum Corporationd.
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 658 MWe net (690 MWe gross); 30 years later, they were rated at 860 MWe net each (30% more) and their lifetime had been extended to 60 years, subject to safety evaluation every decade. TVO now proposes progressively to uprate them further to 1000 MWe each. A 25 MWe uprate of Olkiluoto 1 over May-June 2010 was part of this, and involved replacement of low-pressure turbines. A similar uprate of unit 2 is planned in 2011.
Fortum's two VVER-440 reactors at Loviisa have been uprated from 445 net (465 MWe gross) in 1977-80 to 488 MWe net (510 MWe gross). They have an expected operating lifetime of 50 years, though were originally designed for only 30. A 20-year licence extension was granted by the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) in mid-2007, taking them to 2027 and 2030, subject to safety evaluation in 2015 and 2023. In 2008, Areva commenced a six-year renewal project to install modern digital instrumentation and controls systems at the plant.
Finland's nuclear power reactors
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 reactor, to be in operation about 2009. The vote was seen as very significant in that it was the first such decision to build a new nuclear unit in Western Europe for more than a decade. A similar proposal had been rejected 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)f, but it noted the considerable energy security and emissions savings 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.
The site of the new unit was decided in October 2003 to be at TVO's Olkiluoto plant in the southwest, with two nuclear reactors already in operation there.
Following the submission of tenders by three vendorsg, in October 2003, TVO announced that Framatome ANP's 1600 MWe European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR) was the preferred reactor on the basis of operating cost. Siemens was contracted to provide the turbines and generators. TVO signed a €3.2 billion contract with Areva and Siemens for an EPR unit in December 2003. Meanwhile bids to TVO from its various owners for shares of the 1600 MWe output totalled 2000 MWe.
Construction started May 2005 but delays have been encountered. Fuel loading is expected at the end of 2012 with commercial operation in 2013. The cost overrun is considerable, and Areva has made provision for writedown of €2.3 billion on the project in its accounts.
Finland's nuclear power reactors under construction and planned
In March 2007, TVO and Fortum commenced environmental impact assessments (EIA) for new nuclear power units at the Olkiluoto and Loviisa sites respectively. In April 2008, TVO applied for approval in principle to construct a 1000-1800 MWe PWR or BWR unit as Olkiluoto 4, and this was granted in May 2010. TVO is looking at replicating the Olkiluoto 3 EPR, but is also considering Toshiba's ABWR (approximately 1600 MWe), GE-Hitachi's ESBWR (approximately 1600 MWe), Mitsubishi's EU-APWR (approximately 1700 MWe) and the slightly smaller Korean APR-1400 (approximately 1400 MWe).
In June 2007, a new consortium of industrial and energy companies announced plans to establish a joint venture company – Fennovoima Oyh – to construct a new nuclear power plant in Finland. In January 2009, Fennovoima submitted its application to the government for a decision-in-principle, which was granted in May 2010. The company presented three site alternatives but, later in 2009, withdrew Loviisa and the focus is now on two northern sites, Pyhäjoki and Simo, with site selection planned for 2011. The proposed plant will be 1500-2500 MWe and utilize one of three designs: Areva's EPR or 1250 MWe Kerena (formerly the SWR-1000, a boiling water reactor), or Toshiba's version of the ABWR. District heating is to be a by-product. After receiving a construction licence, work will start in 2012, and full operation is envisaged by 2020.
Fortum's application for a decision-in-principle on the construction of a new unit at Loviisa was rejected by the government in April 2010i.
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.
Fortum predecessor company IVOj contracted for a complete fuel supply service from Russia for the Loviisa plantk.
There are no uranium mines in Finland, but Areva Resources Finland has applied for a uranium mining claim at Ranua, just south of Rovaniemi in Lapland. Earlier applications for uranium exploration licences in southern Finland were refused in 2007.
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, over 46 years.
Finland's nuclear waste management program was initiated in 1983, soon after the four reactors started commercial operation. The 1987 Nuclear Energy Act had final disposal as an option, and set up the nuclear waste management fund under the Ministry of Trade and Industryl. The 1994 amendment of the Act stipulates that wastes should be handled wholly in the country (the prior arrangement with Russia for Loviisa used fuel finished in 1996m). Reactor decommissioning is the responsibility of the two power companies separately, and plans are updated every five years. Responsibility for nuclear wastes remains with the power companies until its final disposal.
As of early 2008, over €1.6 billion had been accumulated in the State Nuclear Waste Management Fund from charges on generated electricity, which account for about 10% of nuclear electricity production costs. The charges are set annually by the government according to the assessed liabilities for each company, and also cover decommissioning.
At Olkiluoto a surface pool storage for spent fuel has been in operation since 1987. This KPA facility has 1270 tonne capacity and is designed to hold used fuel for about 50 years, pending deep geological disposal. An extension to the KPA facility is scheduled for 2011-2014.
At Loviisa, expanded interim storage pools required by expiry of the Russian arrangement to take back used fuel were commissioned in 2000.
TVO and Fortum are responsible for the management and disposal of their low- and intermediate-level operational wastes. An underground repository at Olkiluoto for low- and intermediate-level operational wastes has been in operation since 1992. It is designed to be expanded to take eventual decommissioning wastes. A similar facility at Loviisa was commissioned in 1997.
Used fuel disposal
The final disposal of used nuclear fuel is managed by Posiva Oy, which was set up in 1995 as a joint venture company – 60% TVO and 40% Fortum. It has well advanced plans for a deep geological repository for encapsulated used fuel at the Olkiluoto island in Eurajoki, some 400 metres down in 2 billion-year-old igneous rock.
Site selection and environmental impact assessment work was carried out following the Government’s 1983 policy decision on used nuclear fuel. Four locations were investigated by Posiva in some detailn – all were technically suitable, and were covered in Posiva's environmental impact statement for the final repository. In 1999, Posiva applied for a decision in principle for the final disposal facility to be sited at Eurajoki. The decision in principle was issued by the Government at the end of 2000 and ratified by Parliament by a 159 to 3 vote in May 2001. The proposal has strong local community support, and the Eurajoki Council – which had the right to veto the decision – voted 20:7 for it.
Construction on the ONKALO underground rock characterisation facility commenced in 2004 at the Eurajoki site. Research to verify the site selection has been carried out at ONKALO since the beginning of its construction. This will then become the repository site. A construction licence for the final repository and the encapsulation plant will be sought about 2012. The operating licence application is expected in 2018, with a view to operation from 2020. Current plans envisage the sealing of the repository in 2120, although this depends on whether the repository accepts waste from reactors built after Olkiluoto 3 and the operational lifetime of those reactors. The estimated total cost of final disposal of used fuel from five reactors is approximately €3 billiono.
Construction of new disposal tunnels will continue progressively in parallel with operation. Posiva has proposed that the final size of the repository should be increased from the planned capacity of 6,500 tonnes of used fuel to 12,000 tonnes – large enough to accommodate waste from Olkiluoto 4 and another new reactor – and STUK has supported this figure.
Disposal will be based on the multi-barrier KBS-3 systemp, developed by the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB). Encapsulation will involve putting 12 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. The used fuel will be retrievable at every stage of the disposal process.
In January 2010, a TNS Gallup survey (N=1000) commissioned by Finnish Energy Industries (Energiateollisuus) showed that 48% of Finns had a positive view of nuclear power, and only 17% were negative3. 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%.
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 disposalq. 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 administered by 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 the International Atomic Energy Agency and Euratom.
a. In 2009, Finland's reactors achieved an average annual capacity factor of 98% and the average lifetime capacity factor to the end of December 2009 was 86.4%1 [Back]
b. In 1987, Asea merged with Brown Boveri to become ABB. In 2000, ABB's nuclear business was sold to BNFL and merged with Westinghouse (which was then a subsidiary of BNFL). [Back]
c. TVO was founded in 1969 by a number of companies to build and operate large power plants, supplying the electricity to shareholders at cost. The company is 27% owned by Fortum (see Note d below) and 57% owned by Pohjolan Voima Oy (the major shareholders of which are pulp and paper manufacturers UPM Oyj and Stora Enso Oyj). Owners take 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. [Back]
d. Founded in 1998 from state-owned Imatran Voima (IVO) and listed company Neste, Fortum Corporation is a public listed energy company which is 51% owned by the Finnish government. [Back]
e. Although Loviisa 1 & 2 have VVER-440 model V-213 reactors, the plant was extensively modified at the design stage to incorporate Western instrumentation and control systems and containment. [Back]
f. Figures published in 2000 showed that nuclear had very much higher capital costs than the alternatives – €1749/kWe including initial fuel load, which is about three times the cost of a gas plant2. But its fuel costs are much lower, and so at capacity factors above 64% it was the cheapest option. (On the basis of a capacity factor of 91% and interest rates at 5%, operating costs were put at 2.23 Euro cents per kWh (¢/kWh) for nuclear, 2.44 ¢/kWh for coal and 2.63 ¢/kWh for natural gas.) In addition, electricity costs from nuclear generation are less sensitive to fuel price rises than for gas and coal: a 50% increase in fuel prices would result in the electricity cost for nuclear rising about 6%, for coal 21% and for gas 38%. The analysis did not include costs for carbon dioxide emissions, which would make nuclear even more competitive. [Back]
g. In March 2003, tenders were submitted by three vendors for four designs:
[Back]
h. Fennovoima initially consisted of stainless steel producer Outokumpu, mining and smelting company Boliden, energy utilities Rauman Energia and Katterno Group, and the Finnish subsidiary of Germany-based E.On, which is leading the project. Then the ownership base expanded from five to 64 as electricity consumers sought to insure against future energy cost blowouts. Fennovoima is 66% owned by Voimaosakeyhtiö SF (Power Company SF) and 34% by E.On Nordic. Voimaosakeyhtiö SF itself is 55% owned by Finnish industrial, retail and services enterprises and 45% owned by local and regional energy companies. All co-owners will be entitled to a pro-rata share of output at production cost from the power plant and will not have to buy in a wholesale market influenced by future gas prices. [Back]
i. Fortum was considering five designs, with installed capacity of 1000-1800 MWe, to go online in 2020 or 2021. The designs were: Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) supplied by Toshiba; Economical and Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) supplied by GE Hitachi; AES-2006 (with 1200 MWe class VVER reactor) supplied by Atomstroyexport; Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR-1400) supplied by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP); and Areva's EPR. The application included the possibility of using the reactor to supply half of the district heating for Helsinki, 80 km away, but the pipeline would have cost up to €1.3 billion. [Back]
j. See Note d above. [Back]
k. In 1998, BNFL supplied five test assemblies that were loaded into Loviisa 1. Following the successful performance of the test assemblies, BNFL won a contract to supply half of the fuel for Loviisa and this arrangement lasted until the end of 1997. There was therefore a seven-year period where Russia was supplying half of the fuel for Loviisa. From 2008, all fuel for Loviisa has been supplied by Russia. [Back]
l. The Ministry of Trade and Industry ceased operations in December 2007 and its responsibilities transferred to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. [Back]
m. 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 (see Note d above). [Back]
n. Site screening studies commenced in 1983 and preliminary site investigations carried out 1986-1992. Between 1993 and 2000, detailed site investigations and environmental impact assessments were carried out at Romuvaara in Kuhmo, Kivetty in Äänekoski, Olkiluoto in Eurajoki, and Hästholmen in Loviisa. [Back]
o. The estimated €3 billion cost of final disposal assumes 50-year operational lifetimes for Loviisa 1 and 2 and 60-year lifetimes for Olkiluoto 1, 2 and 3. This would equate to about 6,500 tonnes of used fuel. This cost estimate does not include disposal of used fuel beyond these five units, although Posiva has preliminary approval to expand the repository to accept up to 12,000 tonnes of used fuel. [Back]
p. KBS stands for Kärnbränslesäkerhet, meaning 'nuclear fuel safety'. Although SKB has generally stopped referring to the term 'KBS-3', this is the method of final disposal described on its website (www.skb.se) [Back]
q. The Ministry of Trade and Industry ceased operations in December 2007 and its responsibilities transferred to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. [Back]
1. Nuclear Engineering International, Vol. 55 No. 670 (May 2010) [Back]
2. Risto Tarjanne and Sauli Rissanen, Nuclear Power: Least-Cost Option for Baseload Electricity in Finland, presented on 31 August 2000 at the 25th Annual International Symposium of the Uranium Institute (now the World Nuclear Association) [Back]
3. Finns more positive towards nuclear, World Nuclear News (15 February 2010) [Back]
Country Nuclear Power Profiles: Finland, International Atomic Energy AgencyTVO website (www.tvo.fi)Fortum's nuclear power webpage (www.fortumnuclear.fi)Fennovoima website (www.fennovoima.com)Posiva website (www.posiva.fi)SKB (Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company) website (www.skb.se)