Fennovoima is the first new company to enter the Finnish nuclear power business in the last 36 years. The company’s CEO Tapio Saarenpää was a guest at the Morning-TV of the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE on April 24 to discuss Fennovoima project.

Mr Saarenpää emphasized that Fennovoima started the project in 2007 with great and serious ambitions and the company is pleased that the Government has regarded the project as beneficial for Finland. According to Mr Saarenpää, Fennovoima hopes that the Parliament will agree.

Mr Saarenpää said Fennovoima has two good locations as site alternatives for the nuclear power plant: Simo and Pyhäjoki. In both locations extensive studies has been carried out and the authorities have accepted both locations as suitable. Mr Saarenpää pointed out that this means the locations are now in equal position. He said the choice of the location would already have been made if the decision was easy. For Fennovoima, it is important that both the residents and the decision-makers in the locations want Fennovoima in their region.

Fennovoima CEO thinks it is fair that a new region in Finland will benefit from an enormous project such as a new nuclear power plant.

Tapio Saarenpää stressed that Fennovoima will manage the spent fuel appropriately like all others that are now responsible for nuclear fuel management. Fennovoima regards it as rational that all spent nuclear fuel produced in Finland would be deposited in one location. According to Mr Saarenpää, if Fennovoima gets the DiP from Parliament, Fennovoima will first see if an agreement can be reached with Posiva during the next years, but if this should not happen then Fennovoima will plan and carry out its own solution.

Mr Saarenpää stated that the spent fuel produced in Fennovoima’s power plant will in any case be deposited in the Finnish bedrock. The costs are included in advance because the law requires that the assets needed for managing the spent fuel are included in the price of the produced electricity. In this respect, all applicants are in the same position, Mr Saarenpää pointed out.

He said that what makes Fennovoima different from other applicants is that Fennovoima’s owners have a genuine need for electricity production – they need the electricity for their own production in Finland already today.

>> Read about Fennovoima's project.