Fortum, Westinghouse to find new nuke possibility in Finland, Sweden

The Finnish majority state-owned energy company Fortum and Westinghouse Electric Company, one of world’s leading suppliers of safe and innovative nuclear technology, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore prerequisites for the development and deployment of new nuclear in Finland and Sweden. Any potential investment decisions will be made at a later stage, said Fortum in a press release on Wednesday.

“At Fortum, our strategic priorities are to deliver reliable clean energy and drive decarbonisation in industries in the Nordics. We are excited to extend our cooperation and explore the potential and prerequisites for new nuclear in Finland and Sweden with Westinghouse Energy Company,” said Petra Lundström, Executive Vice President, Nuclear Generation at Fortum.

“Fortum is a leader in providing safe, clean and reliable nuclear energy for the people of Finland and Sweden, as well as an important customer for our fuels and services businesses supporting Fortum’s existing operating plants,” said David Durham, President of Westinghouse Energy Systems.

In addition to large nuclear power plants, Westinghouse is currently in the process of developing an SMR reactor and the company estimates that the first operating unit would be available in 2033.

This new MoU is related to Fortum’s Nuclear Feasibility Study launched in November 2022.

During the two-year programme, Fortum explores commercial, technological, and societal, including political, legal, and regulatory conditions both for small modular reactors (SMR’s) and conventional large reactors in Finland and Sweden.

The study also investigates new partnerships and business models. In addition to Westinghouse Electric Company, Fortum has made cooperation agreements with Korean KHNP, British Rolls-Royce SMR, French EDF, Swedish Kärnfull Next and Finnish Outokumpu and Helen.