Helsinki-owned energy utility Helen plans to build a small nuclear power plant for heat production.
The company announced on Monday that it has formally launched a nuclear energy programme aimed at building a small modular reactor (SMR).
The first phase of the program includes, among other things, possible negotiations with shareholders and mapping of plant locations. Helen officials have previously suggested the eastern neighbourhood of Vuosaari as a possible site.
Helen will evaluate SMR models can be used to produce only heat, or both electricity and heat. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, an SMR has a power capacity of less than 300 MW(e), about a third of the generating capacity of traditional nuclear reactors – or less than one fifth of Europe's largest reactor, Finland's Olkiluoto 3, with its 1600 MW capacity.
The firm estimates that the first phase of the plan will be completed in 2026. The company's goal is to have the first SMR operational in the early 2030s.
Sirkka: Regulations could "make this extremely expensive"
"I believe that a nuclear power plant will be built in Helsinki before 2035," Sirkka told the daily Helsingin Sanomat on Monday. He was asked whether people really want a nuclear power plant close to the heart of Helsinki.
"I believe that nuclear power plants have been built for so long that we know how to make them completely safe. These new types of facilities are even safer than the old ones," he replied – but suggested that safety regulations might affect the financial viability of the project.
"With regulation, it is possible to make this extremely expensive. People react to the expensive green transition quite differently. It always happens that one wants to choose the cheapest option," Sirkka told the paper.
Kuopio utility also planning SMR
Kuopion Energia, based in eastern Finland, is also currently investigating the possibility of building an SMR.
In July, the utility said it had decided on the preliminary design of "a small, simple nuclear reactor which would help Kuopio reach its climate goals and produce cheap energy to heat the city".
In February, the European Commission set up a new European Industrial Alliance aimed at accelerating the deployment of SMRs in the region by the early 2030s.
Finland now has two large nuclear power plants in Loviisa and Olkiluoto in Eurajoki.
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