Fennovoima, a Finnish nuclear energy company, is expected to receive a final building permit for its nuclear power plant in Pyhäjoki, North Ostrobothnia, until 2020. (Credit: Markku Ruottinen – Lehtikuva)
The Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) estimates that it will not be able to conduct its safety assessment of the nuclear power plant of Fennovoima in Pyhäjoki, North Ostrobothnia, until 2020 – three years behind the original timetable.
Talouselämä on Tuesday reported that this will result in at least a two-year delay in the start-up of the Hanhikivi Nuclear Power Plant, which was initially scheduled for 2024.
STUK stated in its supervisory report that the documents provided in conjunction with the construction permit application for the first reactor of the plant three years ago “were insufficient”. Fennovoima, it added, has still yet to file all the documents required for conducting the safety assessment.
The safety assessment, in turn, is required before the central government can decide whether to grant a final building permit to the nuclear energy company established by a consortium of Finnish power and industrial companies.
STUK also reiterated its concern about the management of Fennovoima, saying the management has made project-related decisions and justified them after the fact.
“Fennovoima’s management has neglected to take into account certain important aspects related to the project, such as questions arising from the 60-year lifespan of the facility, in its decision-making,” it said.
The Hanhikivi Nuclear Power Plant will be supplied by Rosatom. The Russian state-owned atomic energy company was confident and hopeful that the permit could be received in 2019, according to media reports ahead of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Finland on 26 September.
