5 June 2007 - Finnish energy provider Fortum has launched an
environmental impact assessment (EIA) process to evaluate the
possibility of building a new 1000 MW to 1800 MW nuclear power
plant at the company's Loviisa nuclear power site at Hastholmen,
Sweden. Fortum said that the Loviisa 3 project is intended to
increase the production of environmentally-benign, cost-
effective domestic energy. Fortum is required to carry out the
EIA before it can submit an application for the plant. The
process will look at the plant's impacts on the environment, on
health and safety, and on the local community and economy.
Special attention is focused on evaluating the environmental
impact of the cooling water, Fortum added. The EIA program will
be compiled for submission to the Ministry of Trade and Industry
by the end of June 2007. Once the ministry's statement on the
program has been received, work on the actual EIA report can
begin. Fortum said that it will submit its Loviisa EIA report to
the ministry in June 2008.