A December 2020 file photo of the Hanhikivi nuclear site in Finland. Courtesy Fennovoma. The Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes) has issued a chemical permit for the handling and storage of large amounts of hazardous chemicals required at the Hanhikivi-1 nuclear power plant under construction in northern Finland.

Hanhikivi owner Fennovoima said the permit concerns the large-scale storage and use of chemicals during the operation of the Russia-supplied plant. Hazardous chemicals will be stored and used at the facility in the management of water chemistry, in cleaning processes, in the cooling of the generator and as fuel for the backup generators.

Radioactive substances are excluded from the scope of the chemical safety legislation, so radiation safety is not considered in the permit process. Radiation safety is supervised by the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (Stuk).

Hanhkivi-1 will be a 1,200-MW VVER pressurised water reactor. The reference plant for the unit Leningrad 2 in Sosnovy Bor, Russia.

Fennovoima has said its goal is to obtain the construction licence for the plant in 2021 and to start commercial operation in 2028.

The plant’s projected startup date is four years behind the original schedule and eight years later than the proposed start when Finland’s government approved the project in 2010.

Fennovoima, a consortium of Finnish industrial and energy companies, had warned in 2017 of potential delays.