The other alternative location for Fennovoima's power plant is Simo in Lapland. The new regional land use plan for Simo was ratified by the Ministry of Environment last spring.

In addition to the now ratified regional land use plan, the nuclear power plant project requires changes in local master and detailed land use plans. The process of changing these has proceeded well both in Pyhäjoki and in Simo. The new master and detailed land use plans will presumably be approved in both municipalities this autumn.

Fennovoima will choose the location for its power plant during the first half of 2011.

Read the official press release here.

Fennovoima and its 64 shareholders are very pleased with the Parliament's decision. Fennovoima is delighted that the MPs recognized the need of the company's owners to have reasonably-priced and emission-free nuclear power. So far only small shares in nuclear power production have been available for them.

Fennovoima brings new competition to the electricity market. This will benefit the entire national economy and all Finnish electricity users.

The new nuclear power company Fennovoima improves Finland's security of supply as the power plant is to be located to a new site, dozens of new nuclear power owners will enter into the market and a new nuclear power expert will emerge.

Parliament requires that the Government contributes to starting assessment and negotiations during 2010 between Posiva, Posiva's owners and Fennovoima regarding the final depositing of spent nuclear fuel. Fennovoima is prepared to act in accordance with the will of Parliament.

Fennovoima has prepared and planned its project since 2007 and now that the company has been given a Decision-in-Principle, it is ready to proceed rapidly and effectively.

>> Read the press release and more about Fennovoima's schedule.

According to the Parliament’s schedule, the discussions on the DiP’s will be carried out on Tuesday 29th of June and Wednesday on 30th of June. On Thursday, 1st of July, the Parliament is to vote if it will grant one, two or zero licences.

If Fennovoima is granted a DiP of the Parliament, the company is ready to proceed swiftly with the project.

The location for the nuclear plant, Pyhäjoki or Simo, is to be chosen in the beginning of 2011. The excavation work on the chosen site will start in 2012, and the construction of the actual plant will start in 2014. The new nuclear power plant will generate electricity in 2020.

>> Read more about Fennovoima’s project and schedule.

Fennovoima appreciates the Government's view that the nuclear power project is for the overall good of the Finnish society. Fennovoima is essential for its shareholders as they are in genuine need for own, reasonably-priced electricity.

− We are pleased and happy that the Government has confidence in us and we hope that Parliament will share the view of the Government. We, Fennovoima's shareholders, are strongly committed to this vital project and motivated in proceeding to its implementation without delay, says Juha Rantanen, Chairman of the Board of Fennovoima.

Fennovoima was established in 2007 and it has 64 shareholders: companies representing trade and industry and dozens of local electricity utilities. To support their expertise, Finnish founding companies chose E.ON, one of the world's biggest energy companies, as the expert partner for the project.

>> Fennovoima's application for Decision-in-Principle
>> The schedule of Fennovoima project

The media has reported that the official proposal for the Parliament will be made soon after the beginning of May.

Fennovoima will deliver a press release after the Government has given its official Decision-in-Principle.

Fennovoima submitted its Decision-in-Principle application regarding the construction of a nuclear power plant in January 2009. The company was founded in 2007 by Finnish companies representing industry and trade and a group of local electricity companies. Fennovoima has 64 shareholders altogether.

More information:

VP, Communications
Maira Kettunen
Tel. +358 (0)20 757 9213

Manager, PR and International Communications
Tiina Tigerstedt
Tel. +358 (0)20 757 9211

Communications Officer
Laura Lindholm
Tel. +358 (0)20 757 9219

Fennovoima's Decision-in-Principle application.

On 11 December 2009, Fennovoima has submitted to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy a revision letter in which the company declares that Ruotsinpyhtää is no longer among the alternative locations for the nuclear power plant.

For over two years, Fennovoima has made extensive studies in the alternative sites related to issues concerning safety, environmental and social impacts as well as impacts related to the construction and operation of the plant. On the basis of the assessments Fennovoima has gradually cut down the number of its alternative sites. In the very beginning of the project, there were some 40 alternative locations in various parts of Finland. Now there are two municipalities left, both located in the north.

In October The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland (STUK) confirmed that the two northern sites are suitable for locating a nuclear power plant.

A new nuclear power location decentralizes electricity production geographically and as a result, Finland's security of supply strengthens. The National Emergency Supply Agency of Finland has confirmed this in its statement regarding Fennovoima's project.

Pyhäjoki and Simo and the municipalities around them support Fennovoima's project and want the nuclear power plant to be located in their area. In 2010 Ruotsinpyhtää will become a part of the new Loviisa town, in which the support for a new nuclear power plant site in the town's area is not strong enough.

In Pyhäjoki and Simo, the land use planning and technical studies continue. The final decision of the location of the plant is made by Fennovoima on the basis of the Decision-in-Principle of the Government. The Government is expected to make the decision of who will get the licence or licences in the first part of the year 2010, and the Parliament is expected to process the decision later in 2010.

Read the press release. Also read more about the alternative locations.

The additional clarifications report was submitted to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy on October 30. In the report, the environmental and water conditions of the locations were analysed in detail. The report will be attached to the material used in the Decision-in-Principle process.

The Environmental Impact Assessment for Fennovoima’s project started in January 2008 and ended in February 2009 in the final statement of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. The Ministry was the contact authority for the report and said in its statement that Fennovoima’s EIA covers the requirements of the environmental legislation and that the report can be included in the Decision-in-Principle process.

The Ministry, however, required that Fennovoima completes its Decision-in-Principle application with some additional clarifications.

The first additional clarification report was submitted to the Ministry in April 2009. This report covered most of the required additional clarifications. The report included plans for more detailed environmental studies that were carried out during 2009. These studies were carried out during summer and the beginning of autumn due to nature’s cycle. The results have now been submitted to the Ministry.

The report is available in Finnish here. Read Fennovoima’s EIA and more information about the alternative locations.

For more EIA information, please contact Fennovoima’s environmental manager Kristiina Honkanen tel. +358 (0)20 757 9222.

STUK's preliminary safety statement includes, among other things, assessments concerning Fennovoima's alternative locations for the power plant, plant design alternatives and organization of the company. STUK gave its assessment concerning Fennovoima's nuclear power plant project on October 20 to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy.

STUK states that Fennovoima's alternative locations, Pyhäjoki, Ruotsinpyhtää and Simo, are suitable for locating a nuclear power plant. Each location has advantages and disadvantages which must be taken into account when designing the plant. STUK does not set the locations in any order of preference.

The design alternatives Fennovoima is proposing, Toshiba's ABWR and Areva's EPR and Kerena, do not as such fulfill all the Finnish safety regulations but the plants can, says STUK, be modified to fulfill the requirements in the later phases of the licensing process.

STUK sees that Fennovoima has the prerequisites to create a management system with a good safety culture and a high standard quality control for constructing and operating a nuclear power plant. According to STUK, Fennovoima fulfills other prerequisites, too, that the law requires, including those related to for example safety, preparedness and nuclear fuel and nuclear waste management.

Read STUK's assessment in Finnish from STUK's webpage from the bottom of this page.

Find Fennovoima's press release here. Read more about Fennovoima's project and find the DiP application here.

Fennovoima's project benefits sectors that are crucial for the national economy, such as metal industry, food industry and trade. So far, businesses representing these sectors have not had ownership in nuclear power generated, reasonably priced electricity. The study shows that in TVO's project the benefit of forest industry would be strong at the cost of other industries and the trade. In Fortum's project, the company itself would be getting the benefits.

The study proves that Fennovoima offers the possibility to get cheaper electricity for households and small enterprises, too. Two thirds of Finnish local electricity companies are shareholders of Fennovoima. Most of these 48 electricity companies are owned by municipalities. According to the study, the retail price of Fennovoima's electricity company shareholders could decrease as much as 10 per cent.

The study "The Effects of Nuclear Power Investments on the Firms’ and Households’ Electricity Prices" examines the influences of the three projects on the Finnish economy. The study has been carried out by Pellervo Economic Research Institute (PTT) and Labour Institute for Economic Research (PT). In addition, Professor Markku Ollikainen from the University of Helsinki has participated in the making of the study. The study was financed by Fennovoima.

The study is available in Finnish at Pellervo Economic Research Institute's homepage.
 

In Pyhäjoki, located in Northern Ostrobothnia and in Simo, located in Lapland, the process has reached the propositional stage in all the three required levels of land planning. Kemi-Tornio nuclear power plant provincial land plan proposition was published for the public to see last summer and in Northern Ostrobothnia the respective proposition will be published in autumn 2009.

In Ruotsinpyhtää, located in Eastern Uusimaa, the general and city land planning started in May and the provincial land planning started in June 2009. The participation and evaluation plans for the land use plan, the city plan and the Itä-Uusimaa provincial land plan are presented in Ruotsinpyhtää municipal office and on the municipality’s net site throughout September.

In order to implement Fennovoima’s project, reservations must be made at all land plan levels: provincial, general and city. The first of these defines generally where a nuclear power plant can be located, general land plan defines how the municipality’s land use and community structure are compatible with the nuclear power plants. City plans, in turn, guide the details of construction by, for example, defining the permitted building volume and the positioning of the building at the construction site.

Read more about Fennovoima’s alternative locations.