Finnish company Fennovoima has begun preliminary site selection for the used nuclear fuel storage facility at the Hanhikivi-I NPP, under construction at Pyhäjoki in Finland by Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, which plans to build a 1,200MWe AES-2006, Russian-designed pressurised water reactor for operation around 2024. Previously, the company was in talks with the company Posiva, which was set up by Finnish power companies TVO and Fortum to organise the final used fuel burial from Finland’s two operating NPPs at Olkiluoto and Loviisa. The possibility that Posiva may also take used fuel from Hanhikivi is still under discussion, so Fennovoima has decided to proceed with the site selection process for its own store. The company is interested in particular areas near Olkiluoto, but has not identified specific candidate sites. Until a permanent storage facility is available, used fuel will be for to intermediate storage at the Hanhikivi NPP site.
