Fortum is considering building new nuclear power in Finland and Sweden
OSLO, Oct 17 (Reuters) – Finnish utility Fortum (FORTUM.HE) said on Monday that it will begin a two-year feasibility study to explore the potential for building new nuclear power plants in Finland and Sweden.
Europe is trying to strengthen its long-term energy security and bring down costs after cuts in Russian gas supplies sent electricity prices soaring this year.
“Fortum will examine the commercial, technical and societal, including political, legal and regulatory, conditions for both small modular reactors (SMRs) and conventional large reactors,” the company said in a statement.
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This year, Finland started production at Europe’s first new nuclear power plant in over a decade. In neighboring Sweden, a new government is expected to take office this week with a plan to also build new nuclear power plants.
“The goals of energy independence, security of supply and carbon neutrality are challenges facing our entire society,” said Fortum Vice President Simon-Erik Ollus.
“We want to find out under what conditions we could meet them with nuclear power generation, which is known to be reliable and CO2-free,” he said.
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Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Kim Coghill and Edwina Gibbs
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