Fennovoima has the support of all three of its alternative site locations. In the most northern of them, Simo, located in Lapland, the municipal council decided yesterday to favor building Fennovoima’s nuclear power plant in the municipality. The council emphasized e.g. the employment impacts of Fennovoima’s project. The region surrounding Simo has suffered from population decrease, and unemployment has risen.

The municipal councils of Fennovoima’s two other alternative site locations, Pyhäjoki and Ruotsinpyhtää, gave their support to the project earlier. These three statements are a major milestone of Fennovoima’s project so far. The favorable statements are crucial to the project, since a positive stand of the municipality is required in order for the project to advance. Fennovoima continues land use planning and technical designing in all three municipalities. In the autumn the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority gives its own statement on the suitability of the locations.

In addition to the positive statements given by the locations, almost all of their neighboring municipalities also gave favorable statements. Fennovoima’s tax revenues and employment opportunity benefit the whole region.

The next main goal for Fennovoima is to get a positive Decision-in-Principle from the Government, which will presumably make the decision in the beginning of 2010. The Government’s positive decision needs to be passed by the Parliament. Fennovoima will choose the eventual location for its plant based on the Decision-in-Principle of the Government and start the construction work in 2012.

The Ministry of Employment and the Economy requested statements concerning Fennovoima's Decision-in-Principle application from some 80 authorities and other instances. Besides them every willing party was able to give their opinion concerning the matter in two months time, yesterday at the latest.

For more information, please contact CEO Tapio Saarenpää, tel. +358 (0)20 757 9202.