{"id":5811,"date":"2023-04-16T16:13:02","date_gmt":"2023-04-16T16:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londonpost.news\/?p=5811"},"modified":"2025-10-18T12:09:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T11:09:21","slug":"europes-most-powerful-reactor-starts-in-finland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/analysis\/defense\/europes-most-powerful-reactor-starts-in-finland\/2023\/04\/16\/admin1\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe’s most powerful reactor starts in Finland"},"content":{"rendered":"

HELSINKI<\/span> (Reuters)<\/span> –<\/span> Finland’s<\/span> long<\/span> overdue<\/span> and<\/span> expensive<\/span> new<\/span> reactor,<\/span> Europe’s<\/span> most<\/span> powerful<\/span> in<\/span> terms<\/span> of<\/span> production<\/span> capacity,<\/span> has<\/span> completed<\/span> more<\/span> than<\/span> a<\/span> year<\/span> of<\/span> testing,<\/span> has<\/span> begun<\/span> normal<\/span> production,<\/span> and<\/span> is<\/span> the<\/span> power<\/span> supplier<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Nordic<\/span> country.<\/span> greatly<\/span> increased<\/span> self-sufficiency.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> 1,600-megawatt<\/span> Olkiluoto<\/span> 3<\/span> reactor<\/span> was<\/span> connected<\/span> to<\/span> Finland’s<\/span> national<\/span> grid<\/span> in<\/span> March<\/span> 2022<\/span> and<\/span> began<\/span> normal<\/span> production<\/span> on<\/span> Sunday.<\/span> The<\/span> operator,<\/span> Teollisuuden<\/span> Voima<\/span> (TVO),<\/span> tweeted<\/span> that<\/span> “Olkiluoto<\/span> 3<\/span> is<\/span> complete”<\/span> after<\/span> he<\/span> was<\/span> 14<\/span> years<\/span> behind<\/span> schedule<\/span> from<\/span> the<\/span> original<\/span> plan.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>At<\/span> a<\/span> time<\/span> when<\/span> European<\/span> countries<\/span> are<\/span> cutting<\/span> off<\/span> oil,<\/span> gas<\/span> and<\/span> other<\/span> energy<\/span> supplies<\/span> from<\/span> Finland’s<\/span> neighbor<\/span> Russia,<\/span> a<\/span> project<\/span> to<\/span> help<\/span> Finland<\/span> achieve<\/span> its<\/span> carbon<\/span> neutrality<\/span> goals<\/span> and<\/span> enhance<\/span> energy<\/span> security.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cThe<\/span> production<\/span> of<\/span> Olkiluoto<\/span> 3<\/span> will<\/span> stabilize<\/span> electricity<\/span> prices<\/span> and<\/span> play<\/span> an<\/span> important<\/span> role<\/span> in<\/span> Finland’s<\/span> transition<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> environment,\u201d<\/span> TVO<\/span> president<\/span> and<\/span> CEO<\/span> Jarmo<\/span> Tanhua<\/span> said<\/span> in<\/span> a<\/span> statement.<\/span> The<\/span> company<\/span> added<\/span> that<\/span> “Europe’s<\/span> largest<\/span> nuclear<\/span> power<\/span> plant’s<\/span> power<\/span> generation<\/span> is<\/span> a<\/span> great<\/span> complement<\/span> to<\/span> clean<\/span> domestic<\/span> production.”<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Construction<\/span> of<\/span> Olkiluoto<\/span> 3<\/span> he<\/span> started<\/span> in<\/span> 2005<\/span> and<\/span> was<\/span> due<\/span> to<\/span> be<\/span> completed<\/span> in<\/span> four<\/span> years.<\/span> However,<\/span> the<\/span> project<\/span> was<\/span> plagued<\/span> with<\/span> several<\/span> technical<\/span> issues<\/span> that<\/span> led<\/span> to<\/span> litigation.<\/span> The<\/span> last<\/span> time<\/span> a<\/span> new<\/span> reactor<\/span> was<\/span> commissioned<\/span> in<\/span> Finland<\/span> was<\/span> over<\/span> 40<\/span> years<\/span> ago.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Olkiluoto<\/span> 3<\/span> is<\/span> Western<\/span> Europe’s<\/span> first<\/span> new<\/span> reactor<\/span> in<\/span> over<\/span> 15<\/span> years.<\/span> This<\/span> is<\/span> his<\/span> EPR<\/span> plant,<\/span> the<\/span> first<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> new<\/span> generation<\/span> (European<\/span> Pressurized<\/span> Reactor)<\/span> connected<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> grid<\/span> in<\/span> Europe.<\/span> It<\/span> was<\/span> developed<\/span> as<\/span> a<\/span> joint<\/span> venture<\/span> between<\/span> France’s<\/span> Areva<\/span> and<\/span> Germany’s<\/span> Siemens.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Primarily<\/span> for<\/span> safety<\/span> reasons,<\/span> nuclear<\/span> energy<\/span> remains<\/span> a<\/span> controversial<\/span> issue<\/span> in<\/span> Europe.<\/span> The<\/span> launch<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Finnish<\/span> reactor<\/span> coincides<\/span> with<\/span> Germany’s<\/span> move<\/span> to<\/span> close<\/span> its<\/span> last<\/span> three<\/span> remaining<\/span> nuclear<\/span> power<\/span> plants<\/span> on<\/span> Saturday.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Experts<\/span> estimate<\/span> the<\/span> final<\/span> price<\/span> of<\/span> Olkiluoto<\/span> 3<\/span> at<\/span> around<\/span> \u20ac11<\/span> billion<\/span> (US$12<\/span> billion).<\/span> This<\/span> is<\/span> almost<\/span> three<\/span> times<\/span> the<\/span> original<\/span> estimate.<\/span> Finland<\/span> now<\/span> has<\/span> five<\/span> of<\/span> his<\/span> reactors<\/span> at<\/span> two<\/span> of<\/span> her<\/span> power<\/span> plants<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> Baltic<\/span> coast.<\/span> Together,<\/span> they<\/span> cover<\/span> more<\/span> than<\/span> 40%<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> country’s<\/span> electricity<\/span> demand.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> conservative<\/span> coalition<\/span> NCP,<\/span> which<\/span> won<\/span> parliamentary<\/span> elections<\/span> in<\/span> Finland<\/span> on<\/span> April<\/span> 2,<\/span> wants<\/span> Finland’s<\/span> population<\/span> of<\/span> 5.5<\/span> million<\/span> to<\/span> get<\/span> an<\/span> even<\/span> greater<\/span> share<\/span> of<\/span> its<\/span> energy<\/span> from<\/span> nuclear<\/span> power.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Finland’s<\/span> candidate<\/span> for<\/span> prime<\/span> minister,<\/span> his<\/span> NCP<\/span> leader<\/span> Petteriolpo,<\/span> said<\/span> during<\/span> the<\/span> election<\/span> campaign<\/span> that<\/span> the<\/span> new<\/span> cabinet<\/span> should<\/span> make<\/span> nuclear<\/span> power<\/span> “a<\/span> cornerstone<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> government’s<\/span> energy<\/span> policy.”<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Finland’s long overdue and expensive new reactor, Europe’s most powerful in terms of production capacity, has completed more than a year of testing, has begun normal production, and is the power supplier of the Nordic country. greatly increased self-sufficiency. The 1,600-megawatt Olkiluoto 3 reactor was connected to Finland’s national grid in March […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[26,1575,9924,252,562],"tags":[3967,3968,3969,3970,856,3957,3958,3959,3960,3961,3962,3963,3964,3965,3966],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NUCLEAR.webp","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5811"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5811"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5821,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5811\/revisions\/5821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}