Finland Times

Construction of the BN-800 Beloyarsk nuclear power plant, pictured is the 28th of Oct. 2011. Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko visited Beloyarsk NPP. Photo AFP / Lehtikuva

The government has welcomed Fennovoima Oy's for its announcement of continuing the ongoing negotiations regarding the proposed nuclear power station project in Pyhäjoki with the Russian company Rosatom, said an official press release.

“Fennovoima has taken a significant step forward. The smaller-scale plant currently being discussed will essentially improve the possibilities of the project being implemented. The new alternative will also strengthen the investment basis of the project,” said the Economic Affairs minister Jan Vapaavuori.

“We are about to find another significant international company to replace the lost German shareholding and it is good news,” Vapaavuori said.

Rosatom's plant alternative is not included in the original Decision-in-Principle of the project. According to Vapaavuori, the ministry and Fennovoima will immediately launch additional studies to establish what the new situation means.

The minister said that the ministry would insist that Fennovoima would update the environmental impact assessments of the project, that the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority would assess its safety, that the Municipality of Pyhäjoki would state its views and that the ministry would organise the public hearing.

Once these steps are completed, the ministry would take a legal and a political stand on whether the existing Decision-in-Principle also covers the Rosatom alternative, or whether the Decision-in-Principle adopted by the Parliament in July 2010 would be sent for a new handling. Completing the studies will take some 12 months, said the minister.