FINLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ismo Hentula, Saga Lamminsivu and Lauri Koskenniemi, Procopé & Hornborg Attorneys Ltd
Regulatory Guides on nuclear safety and security (YVL Guides), which set precise criteria for the type of nuclear power plants that may be constructed in Finland, as well as for how and where they may be built. STUK’s YVL Guides are also currently under revi- sion and are expected to be finalised in 2027. The Nuclear Energy Act and the YVL Guides set out the general framework for the safe use of nuclear energy, preparedness for potential crisis situations, prevention of nuclear accidents, and mitigation of the effects and impact on people and the environment in potentially hazardous nuclear-related incidents. The strict and tightly knit framework has, however, made the construction of nuclear power plants highly demanding and, consequently, slow. As an example, Olkiluoto 3, the most recently constructed nuclear power plant, took over 18 years to complete with a delay of more than 13 years compared to the original plan: the decision on Olkiluoto 3 by the Finnish parlia- ment was made in 2002, construction commenced in 2005, the plant was connected to the electricity grid in 2022, and regular electricity production began in the spring of 2023. One of the key objectives of the ongoing reform of the Nuclear Energy Act is therefore to streamline nuclear facility projects from the permit- ting stage to energy production without compromising on security. Reforming the Nuclear Energy Act is a substantial undertaking in which the existing Act will be replaced by a new one, leading to corresponding amendments in 14 other acts as well. The aim of the reform is to render the new Act more technology-neutral, thereby enabling the deployment of new technologies, includ- ing small modular reactors (SMRs), eliminating over- lapping permit procedures, and incorporating the key provisions of the YVL Guides directly into the Act. Notwithstanding the overall easing of regulation, the legislative proposal, like the Act it replaces, imposes strict safety requirements for nuclear facilities, the use of nuclear energy, and the management of nuclear waste, all in accordance with the international agree- ments binding on Finland. It should be noted, however, that large-scale nuclear power plant projects are not a near-term solution to increasing energy self-sufficiency. Consequently, the
development and possible future commissioning of SMRs has attracted the interest of many actors in the energy sector. SMR technology is expected to accel- erate the implementation of power plant projects and reduce construction costs, which could open up the possibility of nuclear energy production, at least with respect to the production of heat, to a greater number of operators in Finland. Small modular reactors are nuclear power plants with an electrical output of less than 300 MW and a ther- mal output of less than 1,000 MW; for comparison, the electrical outputs of currently operating nuclear power plants range from 500 to 1,600 MW. The key advantage of small reactors over conventional nuclear power plants is their modular structure, which makes their construction faster, significantly cheaper, and improves production efficiency: individual compo- nents can be manufactured in series at a factory and transported as ready-made units to the construction site, where they are assembled into a power plant. In addition, small nuclear power plants offer more flex- ible siting options, as they require less space and, unlike current plants, may also be considered for underground siting. Under the proposed new Nuclear Energy Act, SMRs are subject to licensing and supervision in the same manner as other nuclear reactors, although the appli- cation of technical requirements may differ from those applied to large nuclear power plants. As a concrete example, the former requirements under the YVL Guides to establish a five-kilometre exclusion zone and a 20-kilometre emergency planning zone around nuclear power plants were removed in the 2024 revi- sion. Instead, the zones are determined on the basis of facility-specific safety analyses. As a result, SMRs, especially for heat production, may be constructed closer to population centres than their larger coun- terparts. This has led to several SMR projects being rapidly launched in Finland; these are currently in the planning or study phase but are expected to be fit for construction in the 2030s. Based on the above, it is clear that SMR technology will grow in importance during the coming decade. SMR projects have, however, also attracted criti- cism alongside the opportunities they offer. In Fin-
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