Finnish consulting company TVO Nuclear Services says it has expanded its service portfolio to include the advisory and expert services required for the preparatory and planning stages of small modular reactor projects.

A working group formed of representatives from the radiation and nuclear safety authorities of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden has released a strategy, which provides recommendations for strengthening cooperation between them.

Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority has said it remains on track to complete its assessment of Posiva Oy's operating licence application for the world's first used nuclear fuel repository despite deficiencies in the materials submitted for review.

Finnish small modular reactor developer Steady Energy is to build a non-nuclear pilot facility at the decommissioned Salmisaari B coal power station in central Helsinki to demonstrate the maturity and safety of its LDR-50 reactor for district heating.

Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj has signed a EUR75 million (USD85 million) loan agreement with the Nordic Investment Bank to finance safety upgrades at units 1 and 2 of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant.

Finnish utility Fortum has selected two large reactor vendors plus one small modular reactor vendor to continue discussions with after concluding a two-year feasibility study examining the prerequisites for nuclear new-build in Finland and Sweden.

Finland's Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology is to build two new test facilities at its nuclear engineering laboratory on its Lappeenranta campus for research into the safety of small modular reactors.

Finnish waste management company Posiva has completed the procedure qualification test on backfill installation at the Onkalo used nuclear fuel repository. During the test, almost 12 metres of tunnel were filled with backfill clay using the backfill installation system.

About 100 cubic metres of slightly radioactive water flowed into rooms within the containment of Olkiluoto unit 3 after a hatch in the reactor pool was not properly closed before the filling of the pool began.