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Another utility company pulls out of uneconomic nuclear power project

Utilities are pulling out of nuclear projects across Europe  as uncertainty over energy prices makes them too risky. EON’s withdrawal from Finland follows its decision in September 2011, along with SSE Plc and RWE AG (RWE), to give up building nuclear plants in the
U.K

EON Withdraws From Finnish Nuclear Project on Price Slide, Bloomberg By Torsten Fagerholm – Oct 24, 2012   EON AG, Germany’s biggest utility, plans to withdraw from the Fennovoima Oy nuclear reactor in Finland  after European energy prices declined, threatening the viability of the project. Continue reading →

October 25, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Finland | Leave a comment

Further delays for Finland’s and France’s new nuclear power plants

Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant delayed again, BBC News 16 July 12 Olkiluoto 3 has been hit by repeated delays and is over budget 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.
The plant will be powered by a new generation of nuclear technology called the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR)….. Olkiluoto 3, originally due to be ready by 2009, is being built by French nuclear company Areva and German engineering giant Siemens.

In a statement, TVO said it was “not pleased with the situation” although solutions to various problems were being found one by one and work was “progressing”.

It said it was waiting for a new launch date from Areva and Siemens.

Work on the site in south-west Finland began in 2005 but has been hit by repeated delays and has run way over budget….. a similar project in Flamanville in northern France is itself running four years behind schedule…. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18862422

July 25, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Finland | Leave a comment

The continuing gloomy story of Finland’s Olkiluoto nuclear reactor

Nuclear dawn delayed in Finland BBC News, By Rob Broomby  8 July 2009  The turbine is the world’s largest and will generate about 2m horse power When it is finished, Finland’s 3 (OL3) nuclear reactor will be the biggest the world has ever seen, the excavation site alone is the size of 55 football fields.
It was to have been a pilot project for bigger, better, cleaner, Generation III reactors, which would lead the charge back to nuclear power in a continent which had gone cold on atomic energy after the accidents at Chernobyl and Thee Mile Island.
But hopes of an early nuclear dawn on the Baltic coast are fading –  Continue reading →

July 25, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Finland | Leave a comment

The “white male effect” – psychologists show that affluent white men are the most accepting of nuclear waste dumps

Where to put nuclear waste?  e! science news, , June 19, 2012 Researchers in Finland have found that acceptance of the site of a spent nuclear fuel repository can depend on gender and economic background. Writing in the International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management, the team reports that affluent men more often have a positive opinion on the location of such facilities than women or disadvantaged people.

While the actual quantities of nuclear waste around the globe are relatively small, the disposal or storage of such materials remains a controversial and sensitive issue and one
that is likely to grow if more nuclear power plants are built. Matti Kojo of the University of Tampere and Mika Kari and Tapio Litmanen of the University of Jyväskylä have recently canvassed and analyzed local opinion on the siting of a nuclear waste repository in the
municipality of Eurajoki, Finland. They have demonstrated what they refer to as a “white male effect” associated with acceptance of such facilities close to a residential area…..
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2012/06/19/where.put.nuclear.waste

June 20, 2012 Posted by | Finland, psychology - mental health | Leave a comment

Finland’s plan for eternal storage of nuclear waste

there is the problem of time. HLW will remain dangerous for longer than civilization itself has existed. Future civilizations may not even have the ability to address the dangers—even if we could somehow warn them what they’re dealing with. 

Meanwhile, the construction of new nuclear facilities continues apace, even in the U.S. Earlier this year, federal regulators granted licenses to construct two new plants in Georgia, the first such licenses in the U.S. since 1978. So our waste problem, and the world’s, will only get worse. 

Finland’s Crazy Plan to Make Nuclear Waste Disappear, Popular Mechanics,  By Tim Heffernan 11 May 12, The U.S. plan to bury nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain may be dead, but in Finland, engineers are going ahead with a plan to build an enormous bunker to house the dangerous stuff. And they have a radical solution to keep future civilizations away—hide the nuclear waste somewhere so unremarkable and unpleasant that nobody would ever think to go there.   Barring a disaster—or a miracle, depending on your viewpoint—the Finnish government later this year will begin the final licensing of the world’s first permanent storage facility for high-level nuclear waste. Continue reading →

May 11, 2012 Posted by | Finland, Reference, wastes | Leave a comment

Exposure to radiation by workers in Finalnd

Outokumpu workers exposed to radiation   http://af.reuters.com/article/metalsNews/idAFL5E8DO6SX20120224

 * Four Outokumpu workers exposed to radiation

* One worker’s exposure “material safety risk”

* Radiation should not have adverse health effects

* Recycled steel had contained americium (Adds detail) Continue reading →

February 25, 2012 Posted by | Finland, incidents | Leave a comment

France needs to boost nuclear security, following Greenpeace’s infiltration of nuke plant

EDF to boost security at nuclear power plants-CEO  Dec 8, 2011 Dec 8 (Reuters) – EDF will reinforce security at its nuclear power plants, its chief executive said on Thursday, after Greenpeace activists succeeded in entering two of them this week to alert the public on their lack of security.

Greenpeace activists entered the Nogent plant near Paris early on Monday and climbed onto one of the domes that houses a reactor, while others went into the Cruas nuclear power site in southeastern France.

“Measures have already been decided which will make this kind of intrusion even more difficult and probably more painful,” Proglio said on the margins of a partnership announcement with GE Energy. He declined to give details on those measures….

France’s dependence on nuclear energy, more than any other country, has been much debated ahead of the presidential election in April. The Socialist Party and the Greens struck a deal last month to shut France’s 24 oldest reactors by 2025 and not to build any more reactors if they come to power, marking a U-turn by the Socialists who had supported nuclear power in the 1980s and the 1990s.

After Japan’s Fukushima disaster in March 2011, France decided to carry out safety tests on its 58 nuclear reactors to check their capacity to resist flooding, earthquakes, power outages and failure of the cooling systems as well as operational management of accidents.

The tests did not include terrorist attacks or the possibility of a plane crash. (Reporting By Muriel Boselli, editing by Jane Baird)

December 9, 2011 Posted by | Finland, safety | Leave a comment

“New Generation” Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant delayed yet again, as nuke companies squabblee

Olkiluoto 3 nuke plant may be delayed further –TVO Oct 12, 2011

* TVO says Olkiluoto 3 may start in 2014

* Areva says plans fuel load by end 2012

* Both blame each other for delays

HELSINKI/PARIS, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Finnish utility firm Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) blamed supplier Areva for further delays to the construction of its Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant which may further push back operations to 2014.

The 1,600 megawatt plant Olkiluoto 3, Finland’s fifth nuclear reactor, was originally scheduled to start operations in 2009 but delays and soaring costs meant TVO revised its start date to 2013.

TVO said its plant supplier, a consortium originally formed by France’s Areva and Siemens AG (SIEGn.DE), had informed it of delays in building the reactor’s automation system and in installing piping and electrical systems.

TVO and Areva-Siemens disagree over who is responsible for the delays and have taken a dispute over payment to the International Chamber of Commerce. Siemens has withdrawn from the consortium….http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/12/finland-nuclear-idUSL5E7LC0M620111012

October 13, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, Finland | Leave a comment

Row in Finland over insufficient storage space for nuclear wastes

Dispute over disposal of nuclear waste brewing between power companies,

 Pyhäjoki waste would not all fit in Olkiluoto, HELSINGIN SANOMAT, 7 Oct 11,  Disagreement over the final storage of nuclear waste flared up soon after the power company Fennovoima announced on Wednesday that it had decided to build a new nuclear facility in Pyhäjoki on Finland’s west coast. Continue reading →

October 8, 2011 Posted by | Finland, wastes | Leave a comment

Opposition to nuclear plants in Finland

Nuclear power opponents joining forces, YLE.fi 5 Oct 11, Finland. Opponents of nuclear power are continuing efforts to reverse decisions on the construction of new facilities, despite Wednesday’s announcement of plans to build a nuclear power plant at Pyhäjoki on the northwest coast. Environmentalists say that now that plans are settled, local opponents can better focus their campaign.

The chairman of the Kemi regional chapter of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, Aimo Tervahauta, points out that construction of the plant is not yet a complete certainty since it will still require a number of different permits from various authorities.

He pointed out that Wednesday’s announcement was merely publication of the decision by Fennovoima. “This announcement by Fennovoima, or actually by the German energy giant E.ON, was about where it wants to construct a new plant. It is their idea and their announcement. Before that plant goes up, it will need numerous permits, such as environmental impact and construction permits,” noted Tervahauta.

According to Tervahauta, there is plenty to be criticized in the environmental impact study commissioned by Fennovoima. “Both alternative sites were the basis for the Fennovoima environmental impact study. Both Pyhäjoki [authorities] and we viewed it as being superficial and lax. Now that more specific permits will be under consideration, there can be more action taken in greater detail.” http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2011/10/nuclear_power_opponents_joining_forces_2926766.html

October 6, 2011 Posted by | Finland, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Problems of Finland’s Olkiluoto nuclear plant and waste storage plans

the companies are planning to make Onkalo only large enough for waste from their own potential seven reactors 

the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) has identified safety concerns at operating Finnish power plants as part of stress tests conducted after last spring’s Fukushima crisis in Japan. These include the lack of backup cooling systems that are independent of electrical supply at the Olkiluoto1 and 2 reactors.

a honeycomb of storage sites extending over an area of several square kilometres will weaken the bedrock, making it vulnerable to earthquakes,

  includes VIDEO TVO: No room for Fennovoima waste in nuclear cave, YLE FI  4 oct 11, Onkalo on Finland’s west coast will be the world’s first permanent nuclear waste repository. The project director of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant, TVO Senior Vice President Jouni Silvennoinen, insists there is no space for waste from utilities other than TVO or Fortum in the Onkalo underground disposal site on Finland’s west coast. Continue reading →

October 4, 2011 Posted by | Finland, Reference, technology, wastes | Leave a comment

Illicit uranium trade suspected in Finnish factory

many inconsistencies which seem to point to the existence of illegal trade in uranium, according to the cable. However, the cable stresses that most evidence is circumstantial and inconclusive……

Wikileaks: Finnish Factory Suspected of Illicit Uranium Trade YLE Uutiset , 22 Dec 10, The whistleblowing website Wikileaks has published a cable by the US embassy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) implicating Finland-based OMG Kokkola Chemicals in uranium trafficking.The cable details the operations of the Belgian-owned Malta Forest Company, from which OMG Kokkola Chemicals would later buy raw materials. Continue reading →

December 22, 2010 Posted by | Finland, secrets,lies and civil liberties, Wikileaks | Leave a comment

Finland move to ban uranium recovery as by-product

Greens would ban by-product uranium recovery, Helsinki Times, 1 Nov 10 The Green League said in a statement Sunday that the recovery of uranium as a by-product of other mining operations should be banned.The party management added that uranium recovery would be an environmental hazard and as such would endanger the reputation of Lapland and Kainuu as holiday destinations.Talvivaara, a company that runs a nickel mine in Sotkamo, is mulling commencing uranium recovery. Greens would ban by-product uranium recovery

November 2, 2010 Posted by | Finland, politics, Uranium | , , , | Leave a comment

Uranium mining is damaging to tourism industry

a few years of mining operations are not worth ruining the reputations of Kainuu and Lapland as travel destinations.

Greens Want Uranium Mining Ban YLE Uutiset | yle.fi, 31 Oct 10, The Green League’s party council is calling for a ban on uranium mining in Finland. According to the Greens, uranium mining operations have got into the country “through the back door” and they are ruining the country’s reputation as a travel destination, especially in the north. Continue reading →

November 1, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, Finland, Uranium | , , , | Leave a comment

Finland’s 100,000-Year Plan to Banish Its Nuclear Waste

There are somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste already in the world, much of it in pools on the sites of nuclear power plants where the rods have to cool for years before they can be put into containers.

Films on ScienceFinland’s 100,000-Year Plan to Banish Its Nuclear Waste  –  NYTimes.com, 11  May 2010, Continue reading →

May 11, 2010 Posted by | Finland, wastes | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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