Finland’s Fortum Turns to U.S. for Nuclear Fuel
- November 23, 2022
- Posted by: Quatro Strategies
- Category: Energy
Finland’s state-owned power company Fortum on Tuesday announced that it was planning to buy nuclear fuel from the United States-based Westinghouse Electric as part of its efforts to phase out Russian supplies. The company since last March has begun to look for alternative supplies to Russian fuel, which it has been using solely since 2008, in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The new and parallel fuel supplier will diversify our fuel strategy, improve security of supply and ensure reliable electricity production,” head of Loviisa power plant Valkamo said.
Fortum has applied for a license to run its two nuclear plants in Finland until 2050, while the current fuel-supply agreements with TVEL, a subsidiary of Russian state-owned power company Rosatom, will run until 2027 and 2030.
“A tendering process will be arranged for fuel supply for the new operating license period,” the company said.
“We are proud to support Fortum’s operating fleet with fuel reload quantities, building on our successful collaboration delivering VVER-440 fuel for Loviisa” Westinghouse President of Nuclear Fuel Choho said.
Fortum has also put its Russian assets up for sale.
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