Construction of a new nuclear power plant

According to the Nuclear Energy Act (990/1987), the construction of a nuclear power plant requires a decision-in-principle by the Government to the effect that the construction is in line with the overall good of society.

The decision-in-principle is applied for by submitting an application to the Government, on which the Ministry of Trade and Industry must obtain a preliminary safety assessment from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) and a statement from the Ministry of the Environment as well as from the municipal council of the municipality intended to be the site of the power plant and from its neighbouring municipalities. An environmental impact assessment drawn up according to the Act on environmental impact assessment procedure (468/1994) must be appended to the application.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry must provide residents and municipalities in the immediate vicinity of the proposed nuclear facility as well as local authorities with an opportunity to present their opinions in writing before the decision-in-principle is made. The Ministry must also arrange a public hearing in the municipality where the planned site of the power plant is located at which opinions can be heard about the project. These opinions must be made known to the Government.

For the Government to make a positive decision-in-principle

• the municipality where the nuclear power plant is planned to be located must be in favour of the power plant
• no facts indicating a lack of sufficient prerequisites for constructing a nuclear power plant must have arisen
• the project is in line with the overall good of society.
  

Consideration of the Resolution is partly political: the decision-makers do not need to justify their decisions on technical grounds. The statement on fulfilling the condition applying to safety is based mainly on the initial safety assessment of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority.

The decision-in-principle made by the Government is submitted to Parliament. Parliament can either reverse or uphold it.

The decision-in-principle does not mean that the central government will participate in the financing of the nuclear power plant project or support it financially. The financing is the responsibility of the licence applicant: typically, the project will be mostly financed with loans from financial institutions, specialist financial institutions and capital markets. An applicant cannot make a decision about investing in a power plant project before the decision-in-principle has been confirmed. The financing of the basic investment in a nuclear power plant is divided over about five years.

After a favourable decision-in-principle, the applicant can apply to the Government for a construction licence for the power plant in accordance with the Nuclear Energy Act. A licence can be granted if Parliament has considered the construction of the plant to be in line with the overall good of society and if the other prerequisites determined in the Nuclear Energy Act for granting a construction licence for a nuclear power plant are met. These prerequisites include plans concerning the nuclear power plant?s being adequate in terms of safety, the location being appropriate, environmental protection taken into account adequately and the applicant having the necessary expertise available and sufficient financial prerequisites.

Before the start of the construction of the nuclear power plant, a building permit in accordance with the Land Use and Building Act must be obtained for it. An application for a permit is made to the local building supervision authority, which before granting the permit will check that the plan is in keeping with the valid local detailed plan.

The treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) requires the Member State to provide the Commission with a plan for the disposal of radioactive waste and the operator to make to the Commission for safety-monitoring purposes notification of the technical details of the plant and an investment notification.

After the building permit has been granted, the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority supervises the implementation of the plant project in detail. The various stages of the construction of a nuclear power plant can begin only when the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority has verified that, on the basis of the documents mentioned in the Nuclear Energy Decree and other detailed plans and documents it requires for each stage, factors affecting safety and regulations applying to safety have been given adequate attention.