Finnish utility Fortum and Uniper Sweden have agreed to collaborate on the dismantling of major systems and components at the Oskarshamn and Barsebäck nuclear power plants in Sweden. Fortum was awarded the contract by Uniper Sweden - a Fortum subsidiary - in a competitive bidding process.

Finnish nuclear regulator STUK has carried out a scheduled inspection of RAOS Project Oy - a subsidiary of Russia's Rosatom - via Skype, in line with social distancing restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.

UK engineering company Rolls-Royce has been awarded a contract by Finnish utility Fortum for a partial renewal of the engineered safety features actuation system functions of the Loviisa nuclear power plant. This is a critical nuclear instrumentation and control system which automatically manages the plant's safety features.

Teollisuuden Voima Oyj yesterday applied to the Finnish nuclear regulator for permission to load fuel into the reactor of the Olkiluoto 3 EPR. This process, which had been scheduled for June, is likely to be delayed however because of measures put in place at the plant to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Finnish utility Fortum has been awarded a contract by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland to decommission the Finnish Reactor 1 research reactor in Espoo. It will be the first nuclear reactor to be decommissioned in Finland.

Finland's Fennovoima said operational changes made in 2019, both within the company and throughout the Hanhikivi 1 nuclear power plant project, have brought significant progress in different areas of the plant design and preparatory work. In a newly-published report, the company describes the project's progress and the sustainability work it carried out last year.

VTT Technical Research Centre in Finland has today announced the launch of a project to develop a small modular reactor for district heating. Most of the country's district heating is currently produced by burning coal, natural gas, wood fuels and peat, but it aims to phase out its use of coal in energy production by 2029.

Framatome has signed service contracts with Teollisuuden Voima Oyj to support the long-term operation of unit 3 of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant on Finland's west coast. Grid connection of the European pressurised reactor is scheduled for November, with the start of regular electricity production expected in March 2021.

Fortum, the operator of the Loviisa nuclear power plant in Finland, has strengthened operational safety in many areas, an expert team from the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded. The team evaluated the plant's progress in addressing the findings of an IAEA review in 2018.

The government of Finland has granted a uranium recovery permit to Terrafame for uranium production as a byproduct of zinc and nickel production at its Sotkamo mine in the north-east of the country. The process of preparing the uranium recovery plant ready for use will take about a year, Terrafame said today. However, as the government decision can be appealed through Finland's Supreme Administrative Court, the company estimates it will take about two years for the permit to have legal force.

Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority has published a report discussing the safety assessment and licensing of small modular reactors (SMRs). The regulator says it is preparing for the licensing of such reactors "due to the national and international interest in them."

Estonia's Fermi Energia has signed Memoranda of Understanding with Finnish power company Fortum and Belgian engineering firm Tractebel to cooperate on studying the deployment of small modular reactors in the Baltic country.