Year 2008
Contact authority submits statement on the Loviisa 3 project EIA report
Today, 15 August 2008, the Ministry of Employment and the Economy has submitted its statement on the environmental impact assessment report of Fortum Power and Heat Oy’s Loviisa 3 nuclear power plant unit. In its capacity as the contact authority for the project’s EIA procedure, the Ministry states that the EIA report, submitted by the company on 3 April 2008, meets the content requirements for legislation and has been handled in the manner required under the regulations in force. Fortum’s report is adequate at the current planning stage of the project.
However, the Ministry of Employment and the Economy requires further clarifications of certain questions handled in the EIA procedure. Such clarifications will be necessary, particularly if Fortum Power and Heat Oy submit an application to the Government for a decision-in-principle on the construction of the nuclear power plant unit.
One such matter is the combined heat and power production plant, i.e. the ‘district heat alternative’, the environmental impacts of which should be specified. During this assessment procedure, another EIA procedure was also launched in the Loviisa region concerning a new nuclear power plant by Fennovoima Oy. The environmental impacts of cooling waters must be assessed in a case in which, in addition to Fortum’s current power plant units and the one potentially to be built, the nuclear power plant planned by Fennovoima would operate in the Hästholmen region in Loviisa. Specifications and further definitions are also necessary regarding the environmental impacts of various plant type alternatives, and the completion of the Natura 2000 assessment.
The Ministry of Employment and the Economy received a total of 30 comments from various authorities and organisations, and statements on the basis of international hearings in accordance with the Espoo Convention were submitted by Sweden, Norway, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland and Austria. A total of 26 other opinions were received from various communities and private persons. In general, the statements received consider the EIA report to be appropriate and comprehensive.
The EIA procedure for the Loviisa 3 project commenced on 26 June 2007, with Fortum Power and Heat Oy submitting the project’s environmental impact assessment programme to the Ministry of Trade and Industry. On 3 April 2008, the company submitted the EIA report, pertaining to the assessment procedure, to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, which invited comments on it by 16 June 2008.
The power production capacity of the planned Loviisa 3 plant unit would range from 1,000 to 1,800 megawatts and the thermal input from 2,800 to 4,600 megawatts. A pressurised water reactor and a boiling water reactor are both being considered. The technical service life of the prospective plant would be approximately 60 years, while its construction would take 6 to 8 years, as planned by the company. In addition, the project includes, on-site, the treatment, storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel generated by the new unit and low- and intermediate level radioactive waste, the decommissioning of the power plant unit, and the treatment and final disposal of waste generated by the decommissioning. The project would require an overhaul of the Loviisa power plant's raw water supply system, the extension of the present sewage works and the construction of a loading area for sea transport. In addition, the implementation of power transmission links to the national grid is included in the project.
Further information:
Jaana Avolahti, Counsellor (Energy Department/Energy Management and Nuclear Energy Division), MEE, tel. +358 10 606 4836
Jorma Aurela, Senior Engineer, MEE, tel. +358 50 592 2109
