Only a third of the respondents said the application for building a new nuclear power plant in Pyhäjoki should be accepted. Half of the respondents gave a clear no to granting permission to Fennovoima to build the power plant.
The survey, made by TNS Gallup for Helsingin Sanomat, was carried out in March after the crisis in Ukraine broke out. In the question, the respondents were told that Russia’s nuclear state corporation, Rosatom, was the supplier of the reactor. Asked in general about building a new nuclear power plant in Finland gave a more positive feedback, with 45 percent opposing.
For Rosatom, the agreement with Finnish energy company Fennovoima, is seen as a door opener to the Western energy market.
The Russian designed 1,200 MW reactors, named AES-2006, will be one of the largest in the world. There are no such reactors in operation today and Pyhäjoki would be on of the first. A number of the reactor type are, howeverm proposed to be built at nuclear power plants in Russia, including the Leningrad and Novovoronezh NPPs.
Also in the Czeck Republic, Russia’s annexation of Crimea, triggers negative thoughts about giving Rosatom contract to build new reators. Defense Minister Martin Stropnicky said to AP that under the current circumstances he can “hardly imagine” that Russia would be in charge of the project at the Temelin nuclear power plant.
