Fennovoima's nuclear power plant in Pyhäjoki, Northern Ostrobothnia, is scheduled to start generating energy in 2024.
Fennovoima has been accused by its employees of strong-arm techniques, poor management and ignoring safety concerns, reports YLE.
The national broadcasting company writes, citing an audit report obtained from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland (STUK), that experts employed by the nuclear energy consortium have been pressured, even into resigning, for expressing their safety concerns about the power plant that is under construction in Pyhäjoki, Northern Ostrobothnia.
- Fennovoima, a nuclear energy consortium consisting of regional energy companies, has begun building a nuclear power plant in Pyhäjoki, Northern Ostrobothnia.
- One-third of shares in the consortium have been acquired by Rosatom, a Russian state-owned nuclear energy company, after several domestic stakeholders abandoned the project.
- Rosatom has also been selected as the supplier of the power plant.
- A final building permit could be granted in 2018, making it possible for the power plant to start generating energy in 2024.
The audit, conducted in the latter half of last year as part of a wider safety inspection commissioned by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, also found that some documents have been passed on to other experts for approval if the original expert refused to approve them.
STUK is according to the audit report “clearly concerned” about the lack of priority placed on safety issues and the inexperience of several members of the executive board of Fennvoima in the nuclear industry, writes YLE.
Fennovoima has denied the accusations and pointed out that it has presented the requested clarifying documents to STUK.
“We don't recognise that pressure and threats have been used within the company. We've tried to improve our way of communicating and delegating responsibilities,” Minna Forsström, a project manager at Fennovoima, says to YLE.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT Photo: Markku Ruottinen – Lehtikuva
