Jutta Urpilainen, Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, writes in Helsingin Sanomat that Finland must make a decision on constructing a new nuclear power plant quickly. With Finnish nuclear power it is possible to decrease our dependency on fossil fuels and Russian nuclear power electricity.

According to Ms Urpilainen, there is no need for three new nuclear power plants because nuclear plants that are coming to the end of their life cycle will be replaced with technology that is more efficient than what now is available. She thinks the essential question is not the number of new nuclear power licences but the amount of megawatts targeted.

Ms Urpilainen points out that if all three applicants are given a nuclear power licence, there will be less eagerness in the markets to invest in developing new technology and energy saving. She writes that if no nuclear power licences are given, there will be problems for growth and employment policy.

Chairman Urpilainen sees that low emission and reasonably priced energy supply can be secured at this point only by using nuclear power. She says the target is an energy production that is wholly based on renewable sources but that nuclear power is suitable for the transition period.