Nuclear energy in Finland - Five new plants are in discussion

This article offers an overview of the way nuclear energy has been developi ng in the last few years as well as of the plans of the new government. See n as a whole, 27 per cent of the power in Finland is produced by atomic ene rgy, which means that nuclear energy is the biggest supplier of electrical power in the country. Approval of nuclear energy has remained relatively st able in opinion Dolls in the last few years; however, a bare majority of th e populace is against five new power stations being built. Mistrust against ultimate nuclear waste disposal in Finnish rock stratum is also predominan t: 50 per cent considers ultimate-nuclear waste disposal in Finnish rock st ratum unsafe, a third of all Finns approving of this disposal. The situation looks quite different at the location Of planned ultimate nuc lear waste disposal - at Olkiluoto, Eurajoki, 60 per cent of the inhabitant s agreed to ultimate disposal there that was discovered in a comprehensive procedure. After more than 20-years' surveys, Posiva commissioned with this assignment - pleaded for the ultimate nuclear waste disposal being built a t Olkiluoto, both safety and security viewpoints as well as environmental r easons speaking for this location. After Posiva's recommendation to the gov ernment, comments are needed from the local authority and the Finnish Centr e for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK). The decision from parliament is expected in March next year at the earliest. If everything goes as planned, building this ultimate disposal facility will be started in the year 2010. Alongside this procedure for building an ultimate nuclear waste disposal fa cility, another process is currently in operation for environmental impact assessment (EIA) about building five new projected nuclear power stations, a decision regarding which has yet to be made.