nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Not all trade with Russia is stopped – Finland’s still getting nuclear power project built by Russia.


Rosatom subsidiary will proceed with Finnish nuclear project, By Anne Kauranen,  HELSINKI, April 11 22 (Reuters) – Russia’s state-owned nuclear power supplier Rosatom and its Finnish unit RAOS Project will proceed with a planned nuclear plant in Finland, RAOS said on Monday, despite uncertainty over government permits since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. … (subscribers only)

Reporting by Anne Kauranen; Editing by David Goodman and David Holmes   https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/rosatom-subsidiary-will-proceed-with-finnish-nuclear-project-2022-04-11/

April 12, 2022 Posted by | Finland, politics international | Leave a comment

Nuclear waste management: Is Finland’s Onkalo facility safe?

Nuclear waste management: Is Finland’s Onkalo facility safe?  https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/science-technology/nuclear-waste-management-is-finland-s-onkalo-facility-safe–82252 6 Apr 22,

The facility, set to begin operation in 2024, isn’t based on a foolproof concept

Finland, a nuclear energy champion, claimed it has figured out how to tackle one of the bigger issues with nuclear energy: Safely managing radioactive  waste. 

The country plans to store its nuclear waste in an underground facility called Onkalo. The structure, named after the Finnish word for “pit”, is a 500-meter-deep underground disposal facility designed to store used nuclear fuel permanently. 

The deep geological repository is usually built in places containing a stable rock.Finland can become the first to commission a plant to permanently store spent nuclear fuel. The idea is to encase the waste in corrosion-resistant copper canisters. These will be further encapsulated in a layer of water-absorbing clay. The setup will be buried in an underground tunnel. 

The facility is now equipped with 500 sensors to monitor the functioning of the entire system, according to VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, a state-owned company and one of the contributors to the project.

“Monitoring brings evidence that the repository will be keeping the outside world safe from the nuclear fuel waste,” Arto Laikari, senior scientist from VTT, said. The state-owned company’s collaborator Posiva, a Finnish nuclear waste management organisation, has submitted the operating license for the facility and is awaiting approval.

In 2023, Posiva will do a final trial run of the disposal mechanism but without radioactive material, Erika Holt, project manager from VTT, told Down To Earth. It is expected to begin operations in 2024.

Problem of disposing nuclear waste

For years, the nuclear industry has been trying to find solutions to the waste problem. They are generated at various steps during the nuclear life cycle: Mining uranium ore, producing uranium fuel and generating power in the reactor.

The waste can remain radioactive for a few hours, several months or even hundreds of thousands of years. Depending on the extent of radioactivity, nuclear wastes are categorised as low-, intermediate- and high-level waste. 

About 97 per cent of the waste is either low- or intermediate-level. The remaining is high-level waste, such as used or spent uranium fuel. 

A 1,000-megawatt plant creates about 30 tonnes of high-level nuclear waste every year, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“Even at low levels, exposure to this waste will be harmful to people and other living organisms as long as it remains radioactive,” Ramana explained.

Global endeavours

Some nations are storing waste on-site. But it carries the risk of radioactive leakage. In the United States, for instance, spent fuel is stored in a concrete-and-steel container called a dry cask, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

India and a handful of other nations reprocess about 97-98 per cent of the spent nuclear fuel to recover plutonium and uranium, according to data from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. 


India also recovers other materials like caesium, strontium and ruthenium, which finds application as blood irradiators to screen transfusions, cancer treatment and eye cancer therapeutics, respectively, according to the research institute. 

The remaining 1-3 per cent end up in a storage facility. India also immobilises the wastes by mixing them with glass, which is kept under surveillance in storage facilities.

But there are problems with this approach as well. Except for the plutonium and uranium, all the radioactive material present in the spent fuel is redistributed among different waste streams, Ramana said. “These enter the environment sooner or later.”

The plutonium and uranium intended for reuse in other nuclear reactors will also turn into radioactive waste, he added. 

Nations like Finland, Canada, France and Sweden are also looking at deep geological repositories to tackle spent nuclear fuel wastes. 

In January 2022, the Swedish government greenlit an underground repository for nuclear waste. Construction in Sweden will take at least 10 more years, Johan Swahn, director of MKG Swedish NGO Office for Nuclear Waste Review, a non-governmental environmental organisation, said.

Finland can share its experience with colleagues and partners worldwide, Holt said. “But each country and programme must have their own solutions. Worldwide, we work together to show nuclear energy (and the holistic views for responsible waste management) are viable for meeting CO2 targets,” she added.

Is the approach safe?

Experts associated with the project said that 40-years of theoretical and lab-based studies suggest that the geological repository is safe.

The bedrock provides a natural barrier to protect from radioactive release to the environment, such as water bodies and air, Holt explained.

The use of clay and copper provides a protective layer to ensure no release due to extreme conditions like earthquakes.

But Ramana argues that theoretical safety studies are not foolproof. There are significant uncertainties stemming from various long-term natural processes. These include climate change and the unpredictability of human behaviour over these long periods of time, he added. 

Besides, design failure could undermine claims about safety, the expert noted. For instance, a few scientists fear that copper canisters can become corrosive and crack.

Finland’s team chose copper because it corrodes slowly. But Peter Szakálos, a chemist at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, is not quite sure.

In a 2007 study, Szakálos and his team observed that copper could corrode in pure, oxygen-free water. “It’s just a matter of time — anything from decades to centuries — before unalloyed copper canisters start to crack at Onkalo,” he told Science journal.

On February 14, 2014, radioactive materials such as americium and plutonium leaked out of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, a deep geological long-lived radioactive waste repository, following an accident. The facility dealt solely with a special class of wastes from nuclear weapons production.

“If a failure like this happened within two decades of opening the repository, what are the odds that such failures won’t happen over the millennia that these repositories [Finland’s Onkalo] are supposed to operate safely?”

Both the Finnish project and the Swedish decision are very important for the international nuclear industry because the latter can point to these facilities to prove the nuclear waste problem is solved, Swahn said. “But it is very uncertain whether copper as a container material is a good idea.”

The projects may still fail as the understanding of how copper behaves in a repository environment is still developing, the expert added.

April 7, 2022 Posted by | Finland, Reference, safety | Leave a comment

Experts: Finnish nuclear project “directly supports Russian nuclear weapon production”

Experts: Finnish nuclear project “directly supports Russian nuclear weapon production”

Finland is planning to build a nuclear power plant, sourcing the reactor from Russia.  YLE NEWS, 22.2. 20,

Two professors told Yle that the Fennovoima nuclear power project, which is part-owned by Russian companies, entails big risks connected to the Russian nuclear industry.

The project is using a reactor from Russian state-owned firm Rosatom, which also produces Russia’s nuclear weapons.

“If we invest in Russian nuclear power in this current Fennovoima structure, then we directly support Russian nuclear weapon production and therefore also Vladimir Putin‘s geopolitical goals,” said Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, a professor in Russian environmental policy.

The project was approved in 2014 with Rosatom holding a 35 percent stake. Other shareholders are mostly Finnish energy companies, with a Croatian firm apparently owned by two students owning a crucial shareholding.

Without that stake, the holding company would not have enough EU-based owners to meet security requirements.

The decision to grant a permit was controversial at the time, with the Green League leaving Prime Minister Alexander Stubb’s (NCP) government in protest.

Final building permits are due to be granted this year, with nuclear regulator STUK set to evaluate the project.

Professor of International Business Kari Liuhto said that the project looked too risky, in his view.  “The Fennovoima project will surely be on the government’s agenda during this year,” said Liuhto. “If Russia attacks Ukraine, in my opinion the project should be stopped.

Nuclear power increases reliance on Russia

Rosatom became the largest single shareholder in the project in 2014……………

Journalists from Yle’s MOT programme asked politicians including President Sauli Niinistö, Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP), and former Prime Ministers Antti Rinne (SDP), Alexander Stubb (NCP) and Juha Sipilä (Cen) for an interview on the topic, but all of the politicians declined to discuss it.

Fennovoima also refused to comment.  Journalists from Yle’s MOT programme asked politicians including President Sauli Niinistö, Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP), and former Prime Ministers Antti Rinne (SDP), Alexander Stubb (NCP) and Juha Sipilä (Cen) for an interview on the topic, but all of the politicians declined to discuss it.

Fennovoima also refused to comment.  https://yle.fi/news/3-12328641

March 1, 2022 Posted by | Finland, politics international | Leave a comment

Finland’s Russian-backed Fennovoima nuclear power station project now coming to a halt

Finland Signals Russian-Backed Nuclear Project Faces Halt  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-24/finland-signals-russian-backed-nuclear-project-faces-halt

Finnish minister says construction permit can’t proceed
Government faces legal predicament in shutting down project

By Kati Pohjanpalo, February 25, 2022,

Finland’s Economy Minister Mika Lintila signaled that the Russian-backed nuclear project Fennovoima Oy would not be granted a construction permit in the Nordic country.

“As the presenting minister, a permissioning authority of sorts, I do not see a scenario in which I could present that to the government,” Lintila said in parliament on Thursday following Russia’s attack on Ukraine. About a third of the greenfield Hanhikivi-1 atomic reactor project belongs to Rosatom Corp., the Russian government-owned plant supplier, and a  construction permit was expected this year.

The project underscores the Finnish government’s predicament as it seeks to prevent Russia from operating its critical infrastructure without angering the eastern neighbor with which it shares a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border. Finland also imports power and gets much of its oil and gas from Russia

Fennovoima had initially been given a green light by the parliament in 2010, when it was led by EON SE. The German utility withdrew from the project in 2012, and in 2013, Rosatom stepped in. Other owners include a plethora of Finnish energy and industrial companies.

In a further complication, the 1,200-megawatt plant’s pressure chamber looks to fall under the scope of sanctions against Russia, as it’s set to be manufactured in the Ukraine separatist region of Donetsk, Lintila said.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin had earlier indicated that the project’s security implications would face a review. Still, any decision to shut down the project would be against the law, Lintila told lawmakers.

“The Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the counter measures by European Union and western countries as a consequence, pose a major risk for the project,” Fennovoima said on its website on Thursday.

February 26, 2022 Posted by | Finland, politics international | Leave a comment

Electricity production at the new Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor in southwest Finland has been hit by yet further delays

Electricity production at the new Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor in southwest
Finland has been hit by yet further delays. Production had been set to
begin in January, but this was postponed until early February. In a press
release, the facility’s operator Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) said the
much-delayed reactor will instead begin producing electricity at the end of
February.
“During the OL3 plant unit’s test production phase, it was
observed that there is a need for modifications in the plant unit’s
automation related to control functions, as well as further testing related
to the modifications,” the statement said. The delay also means that
regular electricity production will begin in July, and not June as planned.
Production will operate at 30 percent capacity until then. YLE 4th Feb 2022https://yle.fi/news/3-12301825

February 5, 2022 Posted by | business and costs, Finland | Leave a comment

Finland: no plans for new nuclear , and Fennovoima project hampered by the Ukraine crisis

Nuclear energy gains support, but current producers plan no new reactors, Finland: Finland’s nuclear power producers do not plan to build more reactors, although support for nuclear is at record levels. Meanwhile plans for an entirely new plant could be hampered by the Ukraine crisis.YLE NEWS, 16 Jan 22,

Finland’s current nuclear power producers have no plans to build more reactors, even though support for nuclear energy is at higher than at any time in the past three decades.

Teollisuuden Voima (TVO), which operates the Olkiluoto power plant in Eurajoki, southwest Finland, is concentrating on powering up its long-awaited third reactor (OL3), which was started up on 21 December. The company has abandoned plans for a fourth reactor at the site after extensive cost overruns and delays with the OL3 project, which was to have been completed in 2009.

Majority-state-owned Fortum, meanwhile, is looking toward a possible decision to extend the life of its two reactors in Loviisa, southeast Finland.

The operating licences for the Loviisa units will expire in 2027 and 2030. But if Fortum applies for and obtains a continuing license, the reactors, completed in 1978 and 1980 with Soviet technology, could be operational until the late 2040s.

On Friday the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment gave a preliminary green light to extending the licenses by up to 20 years…………. A final decision could come later this year, pending consideration by the Environment Ministry and other official bodies.

………… However nuclear remained less popular than many other forms of energy, including solar power, which 87 percent said should be used more. That was followed by wind power (81 percent), hydroelectric (52 percent) and wood and other biofuel (52 percent).

The ET survey of 1,000 adults in Finland was carried out in October by IROResearch, which estimated the margin of error at 3.2 percentage points.

Ukraine crisis could affect Fennovoima project

Meanwhile plans to build Finland’s first entirely new nuclear power plant on the west coast remain up in the air. The Fennovoima consortium, which includes Fortum, hopes to build the plant on the Hanhikivi peninsula in Pyhäjoki as a turnkey delivery supplied by the Russian state-owned Rosatom Group. The plant has not been granted a construction license.

It was originally to have begun operations in 2020, but last year the company has set a target date of 2029 for commercial operations.

The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (Stuk) said in August that Fennovoima had not yet handed over all of the requested documentation to proceed with an evaluation of its preliminary safety report.

“No actual plans have been presented to Stuk regarding the safety arrangements for the power plant itself and its operating environment,” it said in late August, adding that there had been “little progress” in the project’s construction readiness.

On Friday the business daily Kauppalehti reported that the Ukraine crisis could further complicate the Fennovoima venture. It noted that the plant’s reactor pressure vessel is to be manufactured in eastern Ukraine, 40-50km from a combat zone.

Fighting in the area could make it impossible for Stuk to carry out required inspection visits to the factory site. The plant is partly owned by Rosatom, which could be hit by western sanctions if Russia attacks Ukraine……. https://yle.fi/news/3-12272789

January 17, 2022 Posted by | Finland, politics | Leave a comment

Finland’s underground nuclear waste facility in construction, seeks licence

On 30 December 2021, Posiva Oy submitted to the Government an operating
licence application referred to in the Nuclear Energy Act for an
encapsulation plant and a disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel.

The facility is currently under construction in Olkiluoto, Eurajoki. Posiva has
been preparing for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel for more than 40
years. Its encapsulation plant is located above ground, and the fuel
repository of underground disposal facility is located in the bedrock at a
depth of approximately 400-430 metres.

Posiva is applying for an operatinglicence for a period from March 2024 to the end of 2070. According to theapplication, most of the spent nuclear fuel of Posiva’s owners, i.e.
Teollisuuden Voima Oyj’s Olkiluoto nuclear power plant and Fortum Power
and Heat Oy’s Loviisa nuclear power plant would be disposed of in
Posiva’s facility between 2024 and 2070. The disposal of all the spent
nuclear fuel of the Posiva owners is expected to be completed until the
late 2120s according to the present nuclear power operation plans.

 Ministry of Economic Affairs 30th Dec 2021

https://tem.fi/en/posivas-operating-licence

January 1, 2022 Posted by | Finland, wastes | Leave a comment

The design fault in the Taishan nuclear reactor could affect other EPR reactors, including Finland’s Olkiluoto station.

 Finnish Nuclear Safety Authority STUK has given its approval to start the
reaction nuclear and low power tests for the EPR OL3 reactor built with a
lot of difficulties by the Areva Siemens consortium in Olkiluoto.

The start took place on Tuesday 21 December 12 years behind the initial project and
with a budget multiplied by 3. The serious malfunctions that affected the
Taishan 1 EPR reactor in China show that this technology is not developed.

Information transmitted to CRIIRAD by a whistleblower indicate that the
nuclear fuel assemblies for the Taishan 1 reactor were severely damaged
during the second irradiation cycle. This situation is probably related to
a fault in design that is reasonably expected to affect other RPEs.

 CRIIRAD 22nd Dec 2021

Click to access EPR_Finlande-Communique_de_presse_CRIIRAD_22.12.2021.pdf

December 24, 2021 Posted by | Finland, safety | Leave a comment

Finland’s Olkiluoto EPR nuclear reactor starting up, 12 years late

 Nuclear: start-up of the Finnish EPR 12 years late. The EPR nuclear
reactor in Olkiluoto, Finland, started up overnight for the first time.
Between delays and financial problems, the work started in 2005 was strewn
with pitfalls for the French Areva. The EPR must supply 15% of the
consumption of the Nordic country.

 Les Echos 21st Dec 2021

https://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-services/energie-environnement/nucleaire-demarrage-de-lepr-finlandais-avec-12-ans-de-retard-1374027

December 24, 2021 Posted by | Finland, politics | Leave a comment

Finland’s Olkiluoto nuclear plant to power up 12 years late

Finland’s Olkiluoto nuclear plant to power up 12 years late news 24 17 Dec 21, Finland’s long-delayed Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor will begin powering up this month and start producing electricity in January next year, the plant’s operator announced on Thursday………………

the French-developed EPR reactor model, touted as offering higher power and better safety, has been plagued by delays and cost overruns, leading to bitter compensation disputes between TVO and Areva.

Other EPR builds in France and the UK have also been beset with delays, with Hinkley Point in southwest England pushing back its planned electricity production by half a year to mid-2026.

Costs have swelled by around 500 million ($705 million, 580 million euros) to as much as 23 billion. https://www.news24.com/fin24/International/finlands-olkiluoto-nuclear-plant-to-power-up-12-years-late-20211217

December 17, 2021 Posted by | Finland, politics | Leave a comment

Finland’s nuclear power project collapsing – unprofitable and unnecessary

 Doubts about nuclear power plant construction in Finland. The planned Hanhikivi nuclear power plant could be on the verge of collapse.

It is unclear whether there will be any need for the plant’s electricity at all.

The costs are running away, the schedule for the start of construction and commissioning has been revised and postponed several times. The planning documents are so inadequate that the project is not yet ready for approval even after a six-year approval process.

And most of the independent analyzes assume that the project can neither become profitable nor that
there is even a need for what is to be produced here. It recently revealed that there is also a huge funding gap, and now the military is raising concerns about national security.

 Taz 18th Nov 2021

https://taz.de/Russische-Firma-plant-Reaktor/!5812508/

November 20, 2021 Posted by | business and costs, Finland, politics | Leave a comment

Finland’s Greens remain anti-nuclear, despite antics of a breakaway group

‘Which greens, there’s two? One carrying the original Green message, of the 1970s, egalitarian, social democracy, adopted by all other European countries.Green League – The Greens” Known throughout Europe, as the European Greens• Finnish: Vihreä liitto• Swedish: Gröna förbundet

— Paul RichardsNuclear Fuel Cycle Watch Australia, 11 Nov 21, Finland greens are reported to have switched to pro-nuclear power

The other, pro-nuclear group, broke away, branding itself green. Much like the Liberal Party, in Australia, who are hard-right, neocon and neoliberal.Liberal by brand, conservative by demonstrated values. A long con, that thoroughly confuses the Republican idiocracy in the US. A group, who think liberals are, communists.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1021186047913052

November 11, 2021 Posted by | Finland, politics | Leave a comment

Finland’s Greens turn a lovely shade of nuclear yellow, as they back nuclear power as ”sustainable”

—Finland lobbies nuclear energy as a sustainable source https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/finland-lobbies-nuclear-energy-as-a-sustainable-source/ By Pekka Vanttinen | EURACTIV.com, 11 Oct 2021

Following a previously secret decision, the Finnish government will lobby the European Union to declare nuclear power as a sustainable energy source.

Wind and solar have been approved as sustainable by the EU, but decisions on gas and nuclear have so far not been made. Even if plants are emission-free, nuclear is currently considered only a low-carbon energy source due to emissions caused by mining and transport.

Finland has four nuclear plants, and the fifth is nearing completion after years of postponements because of technical complexities. The future of nuclear energy remains important for the country. Its industry is highly energy-intensive, and Finland has a target of being carbon neutral by 2035. Currently, 30% of Finland’s energy is produced by nuclear energy.

As reported by the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE), the government’s alignment to lobby nuclear as a sustainable source marks a near U-turn within the Green Party sitting in the current five-party cabinet. Traditionally the party has been fiercely anti-nuclear and has resigned from previous governments over the issue. Its views have become more pragmatic, and the Greens now claim to have a technology-neutral attitude when it comes to fighting climate change.

October 12, 2021 Posted by | climate change, Finland, politics international | 1 Comment

Finland lobbied EU to declare nuclear power sustainable after unpublished cabinet decision.

Finland lobbied EU to declare nuclear power sustainable after unpublished cabinet decision supported by Greens, Uutiset, 9 Oct 21,

The EU Commission decides this autumn if nuclear power will be classified as sustainable.

Finland’s government has agreed to lobby the EU to declare nuclear power a sustainable energy source, but kept the decision secret.

If nuclear power gets the so-called ‘green label’, financing for nuclear projects will be easier to come by and the terms of any loans will be softer than for other energy projects…..

Finland’s decision was reached at a meeting of ministers on 9 July, but not announced publicly. Yle’s sources say that parliament’s Grand Committee, which sets the parameters of Finland’s EU policy, has not been informed of the change.

Yle requested the memo from the meeting, which was provided after publishing a report on the decision on Thursday.

Finance Minister Annika Saarikko (Cen) said that she did not see a reason to keep Finland’s view on nuclear power secret, and that the decision was reached in order to influence the EU decision-making process.

The EU has already granted solar and wind power projects the green ‘sustainable’ stamp of approval, but postponed decisions on gas and nuclear…..

Greens emphasise that there are still different views on nuclear within the party, but it has now adopted a ‘technology neutral’ stance on fighting climate change, according to Yle’s sources…..

On Thursday Iltalehti reported that Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) raised the matter of nuclear policy with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Helsinki on Monday  https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/finland_lobbied_eu_to_declare_nuclear_power_sustainable_after_unpublished_cabinet_decision_supported_by_greens/12135621

October 9, 2021 Posted by | climate change, Finland, politics, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Ho hum … the umpteenth delay for Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor

Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor faces another delayBy Nora Buli   OSLO, Aug 23 (Reuters) – The start of Finland’s much-delayed Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor has been pushed back by a further three months, with full power production now scheduled for June 2022, operator TVO said in a statement late on Friday.

“Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) has received additional information from the plant supplier Areva-Siemens consortium that the regular electricity production of the OL3 EPR plant unit will be further postponed for three months due to extended turbine overhaul and inspection works,” TVO said.

Olkiluoto 3 was meant to be finished in 2009 but the project has been beset by a series of setbacks……. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/finlands-olkiluoto-3-nuclear-reactor-faces-another-delay-2021-08-23/

August 24, 2021 Posted by | Finland, politics | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »