Application for Olkiluoto 4

25 April 2008

Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) has applied to build a fourth nuclear power reactor at the Olkiluoto site on Finland's west coast. The company has not yet chosen a reactor type.

 

Olkiluoto
How Olkiluoto will look when unit 3 is
complete. TVO want a fourth reactor.

A non-profit company that delivers nuclear power to its shareholders at cost price, TVO already operates two boiling water reactors at Olkiluoto, while a pressurized water reactor is under constuction. The company held a general meeting today and unanimously decided to submit an application for a decision-in-principle to the Council of State.

 

As part of the application process, TVO has also submitted five alternative new build plans to the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (Stuk). These are all based on the addition of a 1000-1800 MWe nuclear power reactor at one of two locations on the site, as had been analysed in the project's environmental impact assessment. That assessment was subject to public comment, and has been attached to the latest application.

 

In 2003 TVO considered four options: pressurized water reactors from AtomStroyExport and Areva as well as two different boiling water reactor designs from General Electric. It went on to select Areva's EPR design, which is now under construction and should operate in 2011.

 

TVO's is the leading new nuclear build project of three in the country. Fortum have completed an environmental assessment for a new reactor at the existing Loviisa site, while Fennovoima are set to begin such an assessment, but have yet to settle on one proposed location. All three are considering reactors in the same size range as TVO, which would cost €3-5 billion ($4.6-7.8 billion).

 

A recent report from the Finnish Energy Industries concluded that several thousand megawatts of new generation capacity would be needed in the country by 2020. TVO president and CEO, Pertti Simola said that "with additional power capacity we can mitigate climate change, secure electricity supply for business and individual consumers and reduce significantly to dependence on electricity imports." He concluded: "The entire Finnish society will benefit from the electricity which we will produce."