Finland

Finland has four reactors in operation and a new one under construction. The contribution to total electricity production is around thirty percent.

The two nuclear power plant sites at Olkiluoto and Loviisa have wet storage facilities for spent fuel.

Since 1992, low- and intermediate-level waste has been disposed of in a geological repository for operational waste at Olkiluoto. The disposal caverns are located around 100 metres below ground surface in a crystalline rock formation. A L/ILW repository at a depth of 110 metres has also been in operation at Loviisa since 1998.

Plans for a geological repository for long-lived intermediate-level waste and spent fuel at Olkiluoto were approved by Parliament in 2001. The Onkalo rock laboratory is currently under construction at the site; it is expected that this work will be completed in the near future. The construction licence procedure for the repository is expected to begin in 2012 and the operating licence procedure in 2018.

Further information:

www.posiva.fi/en (Nuclear waste management expert)
www.stuk.fi/english (Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority)

Photographs available for downloading at «Databank - Pictures» on the Posiva website.