Posivas decisions-in-principles
The Government has made and Parliament ratified a decision-in-principle according to which the spent fuel produced by the following nuclear power plant units shall be disposed of in Olkiluoto, Eurajoki: Loviisa units 1 & 2 and Olkiluoto units 1–4.
Decision-in-principle regarding the final disposal of spent fuel produced by the Olkiluoto 1 & 2 and Loviisa 1 &2 units
Posiva submitted an application for a decision-in-principle to the Government in 1999. In this application, Posiva proposed the Olkiluoto bedrock in Eurajoki as the site for the final disposal of the spent nuclear fuel from the Olkiluoto and Loviisa power plants in operation at that time, and that The KBS-3 concept would be the chosen method for carrying out the final disposal.
For the decision, the Government requested statements from the Municipality of Eurajoki (which had a right of veto in the question) and from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority. The municipal council of Eurajoki approved Olkiluoto as the site for the repository by 20 votes to 7. Having received these statements, the Government saw no obstacle to a positive decision-in-principle which was made in December 2000. The proposal was further discussed by Parliament, which, in May 2001, ratified the Government’s positive decision-in-principle by 159 votes to 3.
Decision-in-Principle on the Final Disposal of the Spent Nuclear Fuel from Olkiluoto 3
In 2002 the Government made a decision-in-principle on the final disposal of the spent nuclear fuel from Olkiluoto 3 in the Olkiluoto bedrock.
Decision-in-Principle on the Final Disposal of the Spent Nuclear Fuel from Olkiluoto 4
On 25 April 2008, Posiva submitted an application to the Government for a decision-in-principle for the final disposal of the spent nuclear fuel from Olkiluoto 4 in the Olkiluoto bedrock. The application for a decision-in-principle was accompanied by an Environmental Impact Assessment Report prepared in the late 1990s and an up-to-date account of the environmental impacts of the expansion of the final disposal facility.
The Ministry of Employment and the Economy announced the project in public and started the period for public hearing on 19 September 2008. The period for hearing ended on 19 November 2008. A public hearing meeting was organised during the said period at the Vuojoki Mansion on 22 November. Four standpoints were presented in the meeting. The presented standpoints will be brought to the Government’s attention.
On 15 December 2008, the Muncipal Council of Eurajoki issued a statement in favour of the expansion of the spent nuclear fuel disposal facility to accommodate the fuel from the Olkiluoto 4 unit (OL4 unit). The statement was unanimously approved at the Council meeting. The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) issued its preliminary safety assessment of the project in June 2009. STUK saw no reason why the project could not proceed.
On 21 April 2010, the Government made a positive decision-in-principle according to which the spent fuel from the Olkiluoto 4 unit shall be disposed of in Olkiluoto. Parliament ratified the decision on 1 July 2010 by 159 votes to 35.
At the same time with the application for the decision-in-principle regarding the final disposal of spent fuel from the Olkiluoto 4 unit, the application regarding the final disposal of spent fuel from the Loviisa 3 unit was also being processed. However, the Government did not make a decision-in-principle regarding the construction of the Loviisa 3 plant unit which is why it did not decide on the final disposal of its spent fuel either.