Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power station shuts down again
Olkiluoto 3 shuts down again. The nuclear power plant’s third reactor has
faced some disruption since it started production in March 2022. Production
at the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor shut down on Wednesday, when a fault was
discovered. “In a fault ride-through test, a momentary short circuit is
created near the power plant in the network, causing a dip in voltage,”
said the plant’s operator Teollisuuden Voima (TVO). The shutdown comes just
hours after a reactor at Sweden’s Ringhals plant also shut down, taking
more power out of the Nordic energy market.
YLE 29th Nov 2023
Finland extends nuclear reactor outage, pushing up power price
November 20, 2023 —by Essi Lehto and Nora Buli for Reuters
HELSINKI, Nov 20 (Reuters) – Finnish power company TVO said on Monday it had extended an outage at Olkiluoto 3, Europe’s largest nuclear power generator, while it undertakes repairs, likely boosting electricity prices.
The 1,600 megawatts (MW) unit, known as OL3, on Sunday suffered an unexpected outage due to a turbine problem, TVO and Nordic power bourse Nord Pool said.
“We are looking into a fault on the turbine side and when we find out what it is, we can say what caused it and when we can return to electricity production,” said a TVO spokesperson.
“We will issue a statement as soon as we know more.”
The outage was expected to drive up short-term power prices in Finland and the Nordic region, an LSEG market analyst said.
TVO had initially predicted a return to full production capacity on Monday morning, but in a regulatory filing said it was instead aiming for a partial restart to take place on Tuesday…………………… https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/finland-extends-nuclear-reactor-outage-pushing-up-power-price
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Finland’s nuclear waste: delay in completing the review of operating licence application and safety assessment.
Finland’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) said its review of
Posiva Oy’s operating licence application for the world’s first used fuel
disposal facility is taking longer than expected and will not be completed
by the end of this year as planned.
Radioactive waste management company
Posiva submitted its application, together with related information, to the
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (TEM) on 30 December 2021 for
an operating licence for the used fuel encapsulation plant and final
disposal facility currently under construction at Olkiluoto. The repository
is expected to begin operations in the mid-2020s. Posiva is applying for an
operating licence for a period from March 2024 to the end of 2070.
The government will make the final decision on Posiva’s application, but a
positive opinion by STUK is required beforehand. The ministry requested
STUK’s opinion on the application by the end of this year. The regulator
began its review in May 2022 after concluding Posiva had provided
sufficient material. However, STUK has now said its safety assessment and
opinion on the application will not be completed this year.
World Nuclear News 28th Sept 2023
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Completion-of-Finnish-repository-review-delayed
The risk that nuclear weapons could be used is tremendous – Finnish President on war in Ukraine
He also spoke in favour of cautious policy of such states as the US and Germany concerning supplying Ukraine with some kinds of armament, mainly for the attacks on Russia-occupied Crimea.
Yahoo News Ukrainska Pravda, Mon, September 18, 2023
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö warns Europe to be cautious concerning the risk of escalation of the full-scale Russian war against Ukraine.
Source: Niinistö expressed this opinion in an interview for The New York Times, as reported by European Pravda
Niinistö thinks that the war against Ukraine will last a long time and even though Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was a “wake-up call” for Europe and NATO, now this fact is being gradually forgotten.
“We’re in a very sensitive situation. Even small things can change matters a great deal and unfortunately for the worse. That is the risk of such large-scale warfare. The risk that nuclear weapons could be used is tremendous,” Niinistö said.
He also spoke in favour of cautious policy of such states as the US and Germany concerning supplying Ukraine with some kinds of armament, mainly for the attacks on Russia-occupied Crimea………………………….. more https://news.yahoo.com/risk-nuclear-weapons-could-used-144000584.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzLmdvb2dsZS5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAExkFb73zWCbee9AK_vuFm2BTmp0kiQDmDUXiBzV6qklzWqYIFsX_LXu9LAxNrBCYBq1jiKFYYNtTql41UYxMkGOceFZGslm7ZB2DP56ACiY6zTGQry2jsKbYix7589Hu54kZpAcm6jfdeJQDJs1JEs77sAiMK0vhn8GH6AyXa6s
Finland’s OL2 nuclear reactor off grid; power prices rise
Reuters, August 18, 2023
OSLO, Aug 18 (Reuters) – Finland’s OL2 nuclear power reactor was shut down early on Friday and will remain offline until Aug. 28 due to problems caused by increased moisture in the facility’s turbine, operator TVO said, helping to pushing up electricity prices.
There was no impact on nuclear safety, TVO added.
The outage comes at a time of low wind power generation that has already lifted Finnish prices, according to Refinitiv analyst Petter Engblom Nordby.
Electricity prices for Friday soared up to 270 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) for hours where demand is typically highest, far exceeding prices in other parts of the Nordics and continental Europe, data from power exchange Nord Pool showed……………….. Reporting by Nora Buli in Oslo and Louise Rasmussen in Copenhagen, editing by Terje Solsvik https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/finlands-ol2-nuclear-reactor-off-grid-power-prices-rise-2023-08-18/
US, Finland Negotiating Defense Agreement That Would See Deployment of American Troops
August 14, 2023 https://wordpress.com/post/nuclear-news.net/240861
Washington and Helsinki are in the process of establishing a new defense cooperation agreement that would see expended deployments of American soldiers and Finland hosting war games.
By Kyle Anzalone / Antiwar.com
Washington and Helsinki are working on a new deal to govern the military relationship between the two nations. Finland recently became the thirty-first member of NATO, doubling the alliance’s border with Russia.
According to YLE News, Finnish state media, Helsinki and Washington are negotiating a new Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA). YLE said the new deal would be a “significant departure from its previous” DCA with the US.
Finland held a prolonged policy of official neutrality prior to joining NATO earlier this year. However, Helsinki established deep ties with the bloc over recent decades. The new DCA will expand America’s military presence to several Finnish bases, including ports and airports.
The outlet reports the new DCA will “permit the presence of foreign troops for extended periods, specifically for conventional military exercises…[and] grant US military personnel access to facilities and areas within Finland for training, weapons storage, and equipment maintenance.”
The war games and NATO soldiers will be viewed as a provocation by Russia, which shares an 800 miles border with Finland. Helsinki already hosts NATO troops for military drills near the Russian border.
When Helsinki announced its intention to join the North Atlantic bloc last year, the Kremlin warned about additional international troop deployments in Finland. Last week, Moscow announced it would deploy additional military assets to its border with NATO members.
Finnish negotiations have expressed some reservations about expanding the DCA with the US. YLE explains, “noting that the agreement excludes nuclear weapons,” and Helsinki wants all integration troops deployments to be labeled as temporary.
Finland’s newest nuclear plant is warming the sea, harming wildlife
yle 1 June 23
The Olkiluoto 3 reactor became fully operational in April after a decade-long delay.
“……… climate groups have pointed to a number of adverse effects the largest reactor in the Nordic region will have on its surrounding environment, including the warming of the seawater used to cool the plant and its effects on marine life.
Olkiluoto 3 is by far the largest of the three reactors located at Eurajoki and its operations will almost double the amount of water required to cool the plants.
In total, the three reactors need around 120-130 cubic metres of cooling water per second. This is more than half the average flow of the nearby Kokemäenjoki river, and Olkiluoto 3 accounts for about 57 cubic metres of this volume.
Court orders investigation
The seawater used to cool the nuclear power plant will also inevitably contain fish and other marine organisms.
Finland’s Administrative Court ordered an investigation to be carried out into the effects of Olkiluoto 3 on the local marine life when regular electricity production began in April………………………………………………………………………………………… https://yle.fi/a/74-20034904
Nuclear Safety Authority identified faults in Olkiluoto nuclear power plant
The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) informed on its own
website on 14 April under the section Surveillance News that Teollisuuden
Voima, TVO, had detected and subsequently repaired defects and deficiencies in the
seals of the connectors of third unit (OL3) of the Olkiluoto nuclear power
plant.
The seals are required in the event of an accident. Should the seals
be missing, the measurements required for containing the accident could be
affected, compromising the safety functions of the plant.
As the incidentwas accompanied by inadequate guidance and the defect was detected in
several locations, TVO concluded that the incident falls under category one
on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES). According
to the INES, the incident was classified as an Anomaly. The absence of a
single seal as such is not a safety issue, but the recurrence of the error
increased the significance of the incident on the assessment scale. TVO
submitted its own assessment to STUK in connection with the incident report
in April, and STUK made a decision based on its own assessment, in which it
concurs with TVO’s INES assessment.
STUK 15th May 2023
https://www.stuk.fi/web/en/-/tvo-identified-faults-in-ol3-connectors
Finnish nuclear plant throttles production as electricity price plunges
Electricity production must also be profitable for nuclear power plants, according to the facility’s operator Teollisuuden Voima (TVO).
The output of Finland’s newest nuclear power facility, Olkiluoto 3, has been
significantly cut back because electricity has become too cheap, according
to the plant’s owner, Teollisuuden Voima (TVO).
“Electricity productionmust also be profitable for nuclear power plants, and when the price is
particularly low, there may be situations where output is limited,” TVO
communications manager, Johanna Aho, said. Early on Wednesday the market
price for electricity dropped below zero cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and
for hours after that the price was only 0.3 cents per kWh at its highest,
according to the country’s grid operator, Fingrid.
YLE 17th May 2023
Swedish reactor shutdowns nearly double Finland’s electricity price overnight
Swedish reactor shutdowns nearly double Finland’s electricity price
overnight. A short circuit encountered during maintenance near Stockholm
forced the closure of two nuclear reactors in Forsmark, Sweden.
YLE 27th April 2023
Germany and Finland: Two sides of the nuclear power coin in Europe
“What we see in Germany is a measured but speedier version of a European trend: the decline of the nuclear industry,”
“It’s a progressive closure — the replacement rate is insufficient for nuclear energy to survive.”
The shutdown of the remaining German reactors coincides with the startup of a new reactor on the Finnish coast
IGNACIO FARIZA. El Pais, Madrid – APR 19, 2023
As chance would have it, the shutdown of the Germany’s remaining nuclear reactors coincided exactly with the opening of a new one in Finland, the first in over 15 years in the European Union (EU). Both countries are highly vulnerable to the vagaries of Russian energy sources, but represent two opposing European visions of the always controversial nuclear energy.
The timing could not have been more incongruous. Almost 12 years after Angela Merkel’s administration decided to abandon nuclear power following the Fukushima (Japan) disaster, three plants were disconnected from the grid and mothballed: Isar 2 (Bavaria); Neckarwestheim 2 (Baden-Württemberg); and Emsland (Lower Saxony). A few hours later, in the early hours of the morning, the largest reactor in Europe was inaugurated 1,000 miles to the north. After almost 15 years of construction and many cost overruns, the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant started producing 1.6 gigawatts (GW) of electricity, about one seventh of Finland’s total electricity demand.
The start-up of the Finnish reactor was a rocky road: it was first scheduled to be completed in 2009 and cost $12 billion, three times more than the original estimate. With Finnish conservatives holding a firm grip on power, more nuclear power projects are expected. Petteri Orpo, the front-runner in the prime minister race, often says in campaign speeches that nuclear power should be “the cornerstone of Finnish energy policy.”
The brutal energy shock aggravated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine has recently rekindled the debate about the role of nuclear power in Europe. Germany delayed the closure of its reactors by four months amid the energy crisis, and several political parties (including Merkel’s center-right CDU party) have reversed their original positions. The International Energy Agency (the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s energy arm) has emerged as a leading advocate for nuclear reactors in a context increasingly dominated by renewable energy. A report by the International Energy Agency last summer noted the growing momentum for nuclear energy in many countries given rising fuel prices and growing concerns about stable energy supplies……………….
Although wind and photovoltaic energy are gaining traction in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy and most populous country, fossil fuels will have to fill some of the gap left by the nuclear plant shutdowns (6% of Germany’s electricity in 2022). Highly polluting coal plants still produce a third of the country’s electricity but will have to close by 2038……………………….
Consultant and environmentalist Mycle Schneider, author of one of the most comprehensive annual report on the global state of nuclear power, doesn’t see it that way. “What we see in Germany is a measured but speedier version of a European trend: the decline of the nuclear industry,” he told EL PAÍS in an e-mail. “It’s a progressive closure — the renewal rate is insufficient for nuclear energy to survive.”
Schneider, a German expert based in Paris, says in the last 30 years EU countries have connected 16 new reactors, closed 47 and started construction on only two: Flamanville 3 (in France) and Olkiluoto 3. “Since the construction of these facilities began, the cost of solar [photovoltaic] energy has plunged by 90% and wind power by 70%. It’s simply impossible for a nuclear plant to compete with those low costs,” he said. Over the same period, the EU has added 157 GW of solar energy capacity, wind has added 175 GW, and nuclear has accounted for a 24 GW loss in capacity.
Paris and Berlin dominate the debate
Apart from the diverging paths of Berlin and Helsinki, the nuclear energy debate is still dominated by the two major continental powers: Germany, which has the unwavering support of Spain and Austria, and France, supported by several Eastern European countries.
Broad swaths of German society vehemently oppose nuclear energy, unlike French society and its government. France depends highly on nuclear energy, even during 2022 when a plague of technical issues caused shutdowns of many power plants. 60% of France’s electricity is nuclear, perhaps because prior to its 2016 corporate restructuring, Areva — a global power in nuclear plant construction — was majority-owned by the French state. Areva was the lead engineering firm for Olkiluoto 3. However, the future of nuclear energy will not be driven by France, Germany or the EU, says Zurita, but by “China, India, South Korea and the other emerging countries” that are growing so rapidly. https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-04-19/germany-and-finland-two-sides-of-the-nuclear-power-coin-in-europe.html
Finland’s NATO Move Leaves Others to Carry On the “Helsinki Spirit”
Finland’s membership in NATO marks the end of the nation’s admirable tradition as a global peacemaker.
MEDEA BENJAMINNICOLAS J.S. DAVIES, Apr 11, 2023
On April 4, 2023, Finland officially became the 31st member of the NATO military alliance. The 830-mile border between Finland and Russia is now by far the longest border between any NATO country and Russia, which otherwise borders only Norway, Latvia, Estonia, and short stretches of the Polish and Lithuanian borders where they encircle Kaliningrad.
In the context of the not-so-cold war between the United States, NATO and Russia, any of these borders is a potentially dangerous flashpoint that could trigger a new crisis, or even a world war. But a key difference with the Finnish border is that it comes within about 100 miles of Severomorsk, where Russia’s Northern Fleet and 13 of its 23 nuclear-armed submarines are based. This could well be where World War III will begin, if it has not already started in Ukraine.
In Europe today, only Switzerland, Austria, Ireland and a handful of other small countries remain outside NATO. For 75 years, Finland was a model of successful neutrality, but it is far from demilitarized. Like Switzerland, it has a large military, and young Finns are required to perform at least six months of military training after they turn 18. Its active and reserve military forces make up over 4% of the population–compared with only 0.6% in the U.S.–and 83% of Finns say they would take part in armed resistance if Finland were invaded.
On April 4, 2023, Finland officially became the 31st member of the NATO military alliance. The 830-mile border between Finland and Russia is now by far the longest border between any NATO country and Russia, which otherwise borders only Norway, Latvia, Estonia, and short stretches of the Polish and Lithuanian borders where they encircle Kaliningrad.
In the context of the not-so-cold war between the United States, NATO and Russia, any of these borders is a potentially dangerous flashpoint that could trigger a new crisis, or even a world war. But a key difference with the Finnish border is that it comes within about 100 miles of Severomorsk, where Russia’s Northern Fleet and 13 of its 23 nuclear-armed submarines are based. This could well be where World War III will begin, if it has not already started in Ukraine.
In Europe today, only Switzerland, Austria, Ireland and a handful of other small countries remain outside NATO. For 75 years, Finland was a model of successful neutrality, but it is far from demilitarized. Like Switzerland, it has a large military, and young Finns are required to perform at least six months of military training after they turn 18. Its active and reserve military forces make up over 4% of the population–compared with only 0.6% in the U.S.–and 83% of Finns say they would take part in armed resistance if Finland were invaded.
Only 20 to 30% of Finns have historically supported joining NATO, while the majority have consistently and proudly supported its policy of neutrality. In late 2021, a Finnish opinion poll measured popular support for NATO membership at 26%. But after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, that jumped to 60% within weeks and, by November 2022, 78% of Finns said they supported joining NATO.
As in the United States and other NATO countries, Finland’s political leaders have been more pro-NATO than the general public. Despite long-standing public support for neutrality, Finland joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace program in 1997. Its government sent 200 troops to Afghanistan as part of the UN-authorized International Security Assistance Force after the 2001 U.S. invasion, and they remained there after NATO took command of this force in 2003. Finnish troops did not leave Afghanistan until all Western forces withdrew in 2021, after a total of 2,500 Finnish troops and 140 civilian officials had been deployed there, and two Finns had been killed………………………………
Finland will find that its tragic choice to abandon a policy of neutrality that brought it 75 years of peace and look to NATO for protection, will leave it, like Ukraine, dangerously exposed on the front lines of a war directed from Moscow, Washington and Brussels that it can neither win, nor independently resolve, nor prevent from escalating into World War III………………………..
NATO membership will integrate Finland’s arms industry into NATO’s lucrative arms market, boosting sales of Finnish weapons, while also providing a context to buy more of the latest U.S. and allied weaponry for its own military and to collaborate on joint weapons projects with firms in larger NATO countries. With NATO military budgets increasing, and likely to keep increasing, Finland’s government clearly faces pressures from the arms industry and other interests. In effect, its own small military-industrial complex doesn’t want to be left out……………………..
Finnish law prohibits the country from possessing nuclear weapons or allowing them in the country, unlike the five NATO countries that store stockpiles of U.S. nuclear weapons on their soil–Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Turkey. But Finland submitted its NATO accession documents without the exceptions that Denmark and Norway have insisted on to allow them to prohibit nuclear weapons. This leaves Finland’s nuclear posture uniquely ambiguous, despite President Sauli Niinistö’s promise that “Finland has no intention of bringing nuclear weapons onto our soil.”……………………..
Perhaps most regrettable is that Finland’s membership in NATO marks the end of the nation’s admirable tradition as a global peacemaker………………….more https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/finland-nato-russia-helsinki-spirit
Finland’s NATO entry raises nuclear war stakes
Traditionally neutral nation’s accession to US-led alliance will compel an increasingly encircled Moscow to flex its nuclear muscles
Asia Times, By M.K. BHADRAKUMARAPRIL 10, 2023
The national flag of Finland was raised for the first time at the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels on April 4, which also marked the 74th anniversary of the Western alliance. It signifies for Finland a historic abandonment of its policy of neutrality.
Not even propagandistically can anyone say Finland has encountered a security threat from Russia. This is an act of motiveless malignity toward Russia on the part of NATO, which of course invariably carries the imprimatur of the US while being projected to the world audience as a sovereign choice by Finland against the backdrop of Russia’s intervention in Ukraine.
…………………. this will also make Europe’s security landscape even more precarious and make it even more dependent on the US as the provider of its security. The general expectation is that Sweden’s accession to NATO will now follow, possibly in time for the alliance’s summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July.
In effect, the US has ensured that the core issue behind the standoff between Russia and the West – that is, the expansion of NATO to Russia’s borders – is a fait accompli no matter the failure of its proxy war in Ukraine against Russia.
……………………………………… Don’t be surprised if NATO missiles are deployed to Finland at some point, leaving Russia no option but to deploy its nuclear weapons close to the Baltic region and Scandinavia.
Suffice to say, the military confrontation between NATO and Russia is set to deteriorate further and the possibility of a nuclear conflict is on the rise…………………………….
the US has long deployed tactical nuclear weapons in European countries, including Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey, which means the US has long deployed its tactical nuclear weapons at Russia’s doorstep…………………………………………………………………………………….. more https://asiatimes.com/2023/04/finlands-nato-entry-raises-nuclear-war-stakes/
Operational life of Finland’s nuclear reactors extended till 2050, and wastes to be stored onsite till 2090
The government has extended the permits for the Loviisa nuclear plant until
2050. The plant’s reactors had been scheduled to shut down in 2027 and
2030. Fortum, which operates the two reactors, also received permission to
store low and intermediate nuclear waste on the site until the end of 2090.
YLE 16th Feb 2023
Finland warns of power outage risk over nuclear plant startup delay – Olkiluoto 3 reactor unreliable?
HELSINKI, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Finland faces a greater risk of power outages in coming months because of another delay in starting up the new Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) nuclear reactor, national grid operator Fingrid said on Friday.
Fingrid and the state energy authority have told citizens and companies to prepare for possible blackouts, particularly if OL3 does not prove reliable, as countries across Europe seek to curb energy usage, grappling with reduced Russian gas and other energy supplies because of the Ukraine war………………………………
In October, the operator said cracks were found in the OL3 reactor’s four feedwater pumps after test production, further delaying startup originally planned to be in 2009.
Test production has been postponed until Dec. 25 at the earliest, from Dec. 11, TVO said, while full production will begin on Feb. 6 at the earliest compared with Jan. 22.
“The investigation into the damage in Olkiluoto 3’s feedwater pumps has proceeded into its final stages. Once the investigation is complete, a decision will be made on the startup of the plant unit,” TVO said in a statement.
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