2 Jun (NucNet): Finland’s ministry of employment and the economy (MEE) has approved Fennovoima’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the proposed Hanhikivi-1 nuclear station project, but has called for more information related to the impact of warm cooling water to be discharged into the sea.
Fennovoima said it would submit these further investigations, which include the impact on aquatic vegetation, bottom fauna and fisheries, together with its construction licence application by June 2015.
In a statement, the MEE confirmed that the EIA report had been executed in accordance with Finnish law.
Fennovoima said the EIA procedure included transboundary consultations as required by the Espoo Convention. It said Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Germany and Austria had “raised some questions” related to the EIA and, as requested by the MEE, Fennovoima will answer those questions by the end of October 2014.
Hanhikivi-1, to be built at Pyhäjoki on Finland’s west coast, will be a 1,200-megawatt Russian-built VVER pressurised water reactor of the AES-2006 type. It is scheduled to enter commercial operation in 2024.
