US embassy cable - 05HELSINKI1047

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HELSINKI 001047 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OREP, ENRG, PREL, FI, EUN 
SUBJECT: CODEL HOBSON VISIT TO FINLAND 
 
 
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Introduction and Summary 
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1.  Summary. CODEL Hobson -- House Appropriations Energy and 
Water Development Subcommittee Chairman David Hobson (R-OH), 
Representative Ed Pastor (D-AZ), Representative Marion Berry 
(D-AR), Representative James Clyburn (D-SC), and 
Representative Phil Gingrey (R-GA) -- visited Finland, 
August 18-21.  On August 19, the CODEL met with Taisto 
Turunen, Director General, Energy Department, Ministry of 
Trade and Industry (MTI).  Turunen warmly welcomed the 
Delegation to Finland and Representative Hobson remarked 
that one of the Delegation's principal objectives was to 
learn more about Finland's nuclear energy policy, including 
its nuclear waste disposal strategies.  More specifically, 
Representative Hobson argued that the United States has a 
unique "window of opportunity" to re-think the direction of 
its own nuclear energy policy in an effort to confront 
rising gasoline prices and curb fossil fuel emissions.  The 
Delegation also visited Eurajoki for briefings on the new 
Olkiluoto nuclear power plant, its repository for reactor 
operating waste, and an underground rock characterization 
and research facility.  The Delegation concluded its visit 
with a briefing by the Director-General of Finland's 
Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), Jukka 
Laaksonen.  End Summary. 
 
2.  Issues covered during the visit included Finland's 
national nuclear energy and nuclear waste disposal 
strategies; selection and licensing processes for repository 
sites; the process for securing municipality support for 
repository construction; radiation standards for licensing 
repositories; canister design, transportation and storage; 
and Finland's future nuclear energy strategies. 
 
3.  The Finns, who now are building a fifth nuclear reactor 
in Eurajoki (and the first nuclear power plant on either 
side of the Atlantic in at least a decade), agreed with the 
CODEL that nuclear power has an important role to play in 
the search for cleaner (low carbon) energy sources.  They 
stressed, however, that every country had to devise its own 
strategies for managing nuclear energy and waste 
requirements.  The Finnish "experience" was hardly 
applicable for the United States as geographical, 
geological, and meteorological factors in both countries 
were different, not to mention the existence of diverse 
political and legislative systems in both countries.  The 
national consensus in Finland was to pursue a nuclear energy 
policy that reduced carbon dioxide emissions and increased 
nuclear power production to meet the greenhouse gas emission 
targets set for Finland in the Kyoto Protocol.  In addition, 
the Finns highlighted the cost effectiveness of their 
nuclear energy policy and its market/consumer-driven nature 
that relies on extensive input from all the principal 
players in Finland's public and private sectors. 
 
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Meeting with MTI Director General Taisto Turunen 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
4.  Turunen gave the CODEL a brief overview of the 
production, consumption, and supply trends underpinning 
Finland's energy policy.  He explained that Finland's energy 
sector is driven by active market forces in the highly 
competitive Nordic region.  (Note: The Electricity Market 
Act, which came into force in 1995, has resulted in the 
deregulation of the Finnish electricity market for three 
million electricity consumers, thus allowing them to choose 
the sources of their electricity supply.)  Representative 
Pastor asked about which authority sets electricity prices 
in Finland; in response, Turunen noted that there was no 
regulation of electricity prices as they were driven by the 
market.  Representative Hobson inquired about the sources of 
financing for Finland's nuclear power plants and Turunens 
reply emphasized the role of the private sector and 
consumers as the primary financiers.  He said that the 
Finnish Government does not provide any economic 
contributions or financial guarantees for the project. 
 
5.  Turunen further remarked that Finlands high energy 
consumption is attributable to the energy-intensive 
structure of Finnish industry, high standards of living, a 
very cold climate, and long transportation distances. 
Finland remains heavily dependent on imported energy, which 
in 2004 accounted for 67 per cent of all energy consumed in 
the country.  (Note: Finland imports electricity from 
Norway, Russia and Sweden.)  To meet Finlands current and 
future energy requirements, Turunen said that the Finnish 
government was forced to examine other sources of energy, 
y, 
such as nuclear power and biofuels.  Finnish forecasts 
predict that the construction of Finlands third nuclear 
power plant in Eurajoki (Olkiluoto site) with an output of 
1600 MW will be completed in 2009.  With its completion, 
nuclear power will undoubtedly emerge as one of Finlands 
principal energy sources.  Turunen dismissed the notion, at 
this time, that Finland had plans to build a sixth nuclear 
power plant. 
 
6.  During Turunens presentation, Representative Hobson 
also emphasized the importance of attracting American 
university students into highly technical fields, such as 
nuclear engineering, and inquired whether the Finnish 
educational system produced enough graduates in these 
specialized areas.  Turunen replied that there were no 
shortages of qualified engineering students in Finland.  He 
also noted with some pride that Finlands nuclear energy 
policy was widely accepted by the Finnish public.  (Note: 
Turunen cited a 46 per cent approval rate and 25 per cent 
ent 
disapproval rate for nuclear power in Finland.  High 
approval ratings appear to be rooted in the widespread 
belief amongst the Finnish public that nuclear power remains 
safe as there have been no minor or major nuclear 
environmental incidents in Finland thus far. End note.) 
 
7.  Representative Pastor asked about the licensing 
processes for the new nuclear power plant, specifically, who 
was responsible for the authorization of the construction 
license.  Turunen replied that the Council of State grants 
the license and, in reply, Representative Hobson made the 
observation that there were far too many legal challenges to 
licensing applications in the United States.  Turunen argued 
that the Finnish way: the achievement of a popular 
national consensus on any given issue precluded any 
effective legal motions to block government plans in the 
nuclear energy policy area. 
 
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Visit to Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant 
-------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
8.  The CODEL next met with Posivas Communications Manager, 
Timo Seppala.  Posiva is responsible for the 
characterization of sites for final disposal of spent 
nuclear fuel and the eventual construction and operation of 
the repository.  It is owned by Fortum (60 per cent stake), 
a leading energy company in the Nordic countries and Baltic 
rim, as well as TVO (40 per cent stake), an electricity 
production company.  The CODEL was given an opportunity to 
speak to local politicians and businessmen from the 
municipality and a trade promoter about the nature of their 
political decision making processes and location and safety 
issue deliberations.  (Note: Each Finnish participant was in 
favor of the construction of a new nuclear plant and 
repository.)  The politicians stressed the important role 
the local municipality played during the initial and final 
consultations to locate another nuclear power plant and 
nuclear fuel repository at the Olkiluoto site.  The 
politicians remarked that unemployment was high in the 
region (10.6 per cent) and that there was an economic 
rationale for building another power plant and repository on 
the same site.  The local municipality also hoped that the 
creation of new jobs would, in turn, stimulate the local 
economic environment. 
 
9.  The CODEL was given a unique opportunity to visit 
Olkiluotos low and intermediate level waste repository. 
Completed in 1992, the repository was built to house all the 
operational waste that is produced during the operating life 
of the present Olkiluoto nuclear power units.  Once the 
waste generated by these plants has been disposed of the 
tunnels and shafts leading to the repositories will be 
filled and sealed. The CODEL asked Seppala to explain the 
components of the final disposal canister; he, in turn, 
referred the CODEL to the model of a final disposal canister 
which had a double-layered copper/cast iron construction and 
cost approximately $120,000 each. 
 
 
10.  The CODELs brief drive-by visit to a deep underground 
rock characterization and research facility (ONKALO) was an 
opportunity for Seppala to discuss the nature of the site 
confirmation investigations for spent fuel disposal.  Posiva 
aims to have the repository operational by 2020 so that 
disposal can commence. 
 
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Meeting with STUKs Director General Jukka Laaksonen 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
11.  Laaksonen gave an extensive presentation on the 
management of nuclear waste in Finland.  He stressed the 
need for the safe disposal of nuclear waste and spent fuel 
by using proven, current technologies as well as the desire 
not to leave nuclear waste as a burden for future 
generations.  His support for what he described as an 
ethical dimension of Finlands nuclear energy policy became 
obvious when he noted that this generation must take care 
of its own waste.  He also pointed out that it was critical 
critical 
for Finland to manage its nuclear waste without foreign 
support.  In this context, he highlighted the continued 
relevance of the two major principles underlying Finlands 
Nuclear Energy Act (1994): (1) nuclear waste generated in 
Finland shall be handled, stored and permanently disposed of 
in Finland, and (2) nuclear waste generated elsewhere than 
in Finland, shall not be handled, stored or permanently 
disposed of in Finland. 
 
12.  Finland currently provides for the permanent disposal 
of low and medium level nuclear waste at two disposal 
repositories (Olkiluoto and Loviisa), which are located at a 
depth of 60-100 meters.  There are plans to store spent fuel 
in a new repository located in Olkiluoto (to be completed in 
2020) at a depth of 500 meters.  When asked by a CODEL 
staffer to compare U.S. and Finnish permanent disposal 
plans, Laaksonen noted that Finlands plan took all factors, 
technical and political into account.  Representative Hobson 
son 
asked whether STUK had examined French recycling efforts as 
an option for disposing spent fuel.  Laaksonen argued that 
cost factors prohibited the implementation of a similar 
operation in Finland.  Hobson also argued that it would be 
useful for the United States to launch a review of whether 
more cost effective alternatives could be found for nuclear 
waste disposal canisters.  Laaksonen replied that STUK was 
confident that double-layered copper/cast iron disposal 
canisters, placed in a bed of bentonite, offered the safest 
and most effective protection for the disposal of nuclear 
waste. 
 
13.  When asked by Representative Hobson whether any Finnish 
lawyers ever challenged the government about its nuclear 
energy or waste disposal policies, Laaksonen remarked that 
Finnish lawyers were not as powerful as in the United States 
and that hardly any issue pertaining to this area ever ended 
up in the Finnish court system.  The CODEL acknowledged with 
great interest Laaksonens remark that national governments 
were rejecting efforts by the EU to coordinate European 
guidelines for nuclear energy and nuclear waste disposal. 
According to Laaksonen, the only pertinent international 
organization was the International Atomic Energy Agency, 
whose guidelines Finland adhered to. 
 
14.  The CODEL has cleared this cable. 
 
MACK 
K