Finland launches its third nuclear reactor hoping to cut energy costs

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
16 Apr 2023 17:02

Finland announces the launching of 'Olkiluoto 3' which has begun full production as of 16 April 2022 after 12 years of delays.

A view of the incomplete Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor that will produce 1600 megawatts of energy in Eurajoki, Finland, 17 August 2017. (Reuters)

The next-generation nuclear reactor ‘Olkiluoto 3’ began regular production in Finland on Sunday, according to Finland's Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) nuclear company.

The Finnish reactor is now supplying the country with 14% of its electrical energy needs, after months of delay in the launching of the project.

Olkiluoto 3 is expected to operate for “at least the next 60 years”, per the site’s operator.

The project was expected to launch in December, but it was delayed several times during the testing phase. The recent pushback added to a total of 12 years of setbacks that the European pressurized water reactor (EPR), faced.

The Areva-Siemens consortium was responsible for building the project which was tested for the first time in December 2021 and was connected to Finland’s power grid in March 2023.

In a statement, TVO said, "Test production has been completed and regular electricity production started today," TVO added, "From now on, about 30 percent of Finnish electricity is produced in Olkiluoto."

Olkiluoto 3 most powerful in Europe

The Scandinavian country already hosts two functional nuclear reactors, and with the additional output of Olkiluoto, the country now produces 50% of its electricity through nuclear technology.

Olkiluoto 3, is the most powerful nuclear reactor in Europe with a 1,600-megawatt generating capacity. It achieved full power in late September for the first time since construction got underway in 2005.

The reactor will aid in the reduction of energy costs in Finland after the EU and the US sanctioned Russian energy sources, which pushed prices of electricity through the roof in European countries.

The all-new EPR will supposedly offer better safety and power production than previous nuclear projects. Similar nuclear infrastructures have been hindered by delays and billions of dollars in added costs across Europe.

At the end of 2022, France’s state-owned EDF announced that the completion of its Flamanville nuclear reactor in France has been pushed back to mid-2024.

Two EPR systems have already been launched in China which makes Olkiluoto 3 the third to go into production globally.

Environmentalism vs surging energy costs

Germany has taken a questionable approach to nuclear energy as it turned all three of its functional nuclear reactors on Saturday.

The country accelerated phasing out nuclear energy after the Fukushima crisis in 2011. The huge environmental effects that ensued after the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986 led to a strong anti-nuclear movement in Germany which also facilitated this step.

However, as the energy crisis continues due to the Western sanctions on Russian energy, costs of energy remain on the rise.

In the face of unprecedented energy bills, Markus Soeder, the conservative premier of the southern state of Bavaria, called on the federal government to let his state continue using nuclear power.

Soeder told Bild am Sonntag on Sunday, "As long as the crisis has not ended and the transition to renewables has not been completed, we must use every form of energy until the end of the decade.”

The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg criticized the German policy as "a mistake" as it will lead to burning more coal. Nuclear technology has also had a resurgence in popularity since nuclear-produced energy will reduce overall carbon emissions.

The Olkiluoto 3 reactor was praised by TVO as "Finland's greatest climate act," and it would "accelerate the move towards a carbon-neutral society," according to TVO.