Politicians’ views over how many nuclear power plants should be given licence vary, but Fennovoima’s CEO Tapio Saarenpää says in the national daily Kaleva that this does not impact the preparation processes of the company.

Mr Saarenpää says that all three alternative locations for the nuclear power plant, Pyhäjoki, Ruotsinpyhtää and Simo, are equally positioned in the preparation work. All three municipalities have given a positive statement on Fennovoima’s application.

Appeals have been made to the Administrative Court on Ruotsinpyhtää’s statement as well as on the statement of Loviisa city regarding Fortum’s application. Mauri Pekkarinen, Minister of Economic Affairs, says in Kaleva that the government waits until the legal processes have been completed and will process all three nuclear power applications at the same time.

“Three good location alternatives”

According to Mr Saarenpää, Fennovoima has three alternative locations because the company wanted to take into account in its application the possibility that one location would for some reason or another not be suitable. He says that all three alternatives are good and possible options for the company.

The next milestone is the statement of the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority that is expected to be given around September-October. Mr Saarenpää says this is a key statement.

“Shareholders need the electricity”

Mr. Saarenpää thinks that when deciding about nuclear power plants, the current economic crises should not be given too much weight as the decision is made for the next 60 years.

According to Mr. Saarenpää, Fennovoima’s strength is that it offers new alternatives: new organization, new owners and new locations.

He points out that one key issue is that there is a large group of Finnish companies involved in Fennovoima’s project and they need the electricity for their own use. Mr Saarenpää adds that actually the shareholders would not even get all the electricity they need from Fennovoima’s plant so the company would not be producing any electricity for export. Mr Saarenpää also stresses that Finns have the majority share in Fennovoima and this ensures the project remains Finnish.

Read more about Fennovoima’s alternative locations.