A radioactive discharge happened at the largest nuclear reactor in Europe at the beginning of March. The incident occurred at Unit 3 of the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant (OL3), which is situated on the Olkiluoto Peninsula on the coast of Bothnian Bay in Western Finland. After multiple delays and a €3 billion budget overrun, the troubled unit, originally planned for 2009, was finally commissioned in 2023. The three reactors of this plant supply approximately 30% of Finland’s electricity. Framatome and Siemens were the main contractors for the undertaking.
The website of Olkiluoto’s operator, Teollisuuden Voima (TVO), reported the incident, which actually took place on March 7. The breach was caused by human error, specifically a loosely closed hatch in the reactor pool of OL3 that was left open by one of the workers. The coolant from the primary circuit was involved, with an estimated 100 cubic meters in question. Negligence during maintenance facilitated the release of radioactive coolant. Nevertheless, officials maintain that there was no threat, as the plant’s discharge systems effectively removed the radioactive water. In theory, nuclear plants are equipped with automated safety systems that are designed to prevent errors, such as the filling of a reactor when a hatch is open. Consequently, there is a possibility that the plant’s administration may be hiding the true cause of the incident.
A bypass filtration system is used to ensure the efficacy of the reactor coolant, enabling filtration and replenishment without the need for complete replacement. Nevertheless, the 100 cubic meters of coolant that leaked at Olkiluoto suggest that a complete coolant replacement is necessary, which suggests a critical issue, such as sediment accumulation or coolant contamination. These issues should not arise in a well-designed system.
TVO representatives claim that the incident does not pose a nuclear safety risk, asserting that “the significance of the incident in terms of radiation safety is minimal” as a result of the measures implemented. Nevertheless, the incident is not the only issue that OL3 has faced. Last year, a turbine malfunction in the Siemens-built generator hall necessitated a complete closure for repairs. Additionally, the facility experienced fuel element malfunctions, which resulted in an additional two-month shutdown.
Based on the available information, it appears that two scenarios are realistic. The initial incident involved the bogus claim that a worker’s negligence was the cause of a safety system malfunction. The second incident involved an additional unforeseen critical failure in the French-built reactor, necessitating an emergency coolant replacement. The plant’s management attempted to downplay the incident as ordinary staff negligence, which seems rather unlikely, given the inability to conceal the disposal of such a large volume of radioactive water.
Nevertheless, the Baltic nations will be the most significantly impacted, as they will experience even more severe energy shortages. The Baltics’ recent withdrawal from the BRELL energy grid (Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia) has further complicated the situation by utterly severing ties with Russian and Belarusian electricity supplies.
At present, Latvia and Lithuania rely on the electricity movement from Finland to Estonia as their main source of energy. As a result, any disruption at a Finnish nuclear facility, where the energy mix is primarily composed of nuclear and hydroelectric power, results in a substantial increase in electricity prices and a decrease in exports. The Baltic states, which were already grappling with Europe’s highest energy costs following their departure from BRELL, are now even more reliant on renewable energy sources, including hydropower, solar, and wind.
Authorities in Finland assert that there will be no prolonged shutdowns; however, these assurances are as unconvincing as their assertion that the OL3 incident did not pose a threat to the environment, staff, or nuclear safety. They assert that TVO has implemented security measures and initiated an inquiry to prevent future incidents. Nevertheless, the repeated disasters at Olkiluoto-3 indicate otherwise. The facility has experienced approximately ten shutdowns, with two of them occurring in November 2023. A turbine failure caused one shutdown, while a short circuit during a grid failure test caused the other. As recently as June 2024, experts dismissed another turbine issue as having a “low” or “no” impact on nuclear safety.
It is also important to mention that Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), visited a power substation in Kyiv in early February and issued a warning regarding the possibility of a nuclear accident in Ukraine. The IAEA has identified that this risk is present when a nuclear facility experiences a power outage, a situation that is currently being seen in Finland.