Finland Times

Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant unit at Olkiluoto. File Photo Lehtikuva.

The government on Thursday decided against extending the expiration deadline of a decision-in-principle on the OL4 nuclear reactor unit of Teollisuuden Voima Oyj-TVO.

The government noted after a voting that setting a new deadline for acquiring a construction licence for the OL4 reactor unit is not in line with the overall good of society, said an official press release.

 

In the ballot, a negative decision on the TVO application was supported by 10 ministers and opposed by three.

In the spring TVO delivered the application to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy to supplement the decision-in-principle that it was given in 2010.

 

In the application the company asked the government to set a new deadline for applying for a construction licence for its Olkiluoto 4 nuclear reactor unit.

 

According to TVO, the delay in the OL4 project implementation resulted from the fact that the Olkiluoto 3 reactor unit had not been brought into electricity production as had been planned.

Owing to uncertainties connected with the OL3 project, it is impossible to reliably evaluate whether or not TVO will be able to proceed with its OL4 project all the way to the submission of a construction licence, even if a new deadline is set. In its report, the TVO board has not announced that it would commit to the investment by the requested deadline.

The existing decision-in-principle has a significant impact on the functioning of the electricity market and on competition in the field. In the view of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, one player in the field cannot retain possession of a decision-in-principle about a project with a deadline of over five years in whose progress significant uncertainties are involved.

According to the decision-in-principle that the company received in 2010, it is required to submit an application for a construction licence for its installation by June 30, 2015. The decision-in-principle expires, if this does not happen.