Finland commissioned Europe's most powerful nuclear reactor

By: Maksim Panasovskiy | 17.04.2023, 17:29

While Germany is shutting down its last nuclear power plants, Finland has decided to commission Europe's most powerful nuclear reactor. It is installed in Unit 3 of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant.

Here's What We Know

Olkiluoto is Finland's second nuclear power plant after Loviisan. The Finns wanted to build a third nuclear power plant, but the project, in which Russia was involved, was closed after the invasion of Ukraine.

The first nuclear reactor of the Olkiluoto NPP was put into operation in 1979 and the second one three years later. They each have a capacity of 890 MW. Permission to build a third unit was granted in the early 2000s.

On 16 April 2023, Finland connected unit OL3 to the grid. It has a capacity of 1600 MW. With a total capacity of 3,380 MW, Olkiluoto has thus become one of the top 30 nuclear power plants in the world. Together with Loviisa, the two plants provide 32.8% of the country's electricity.

Finally, we would like to add that the most powerful nuclear power plant in Europe is located in Ukraine. Zaporizhzhia NPP has a capacity of 7,500 MW. Meanwhile, the most powerful nuclear power plant in the world is Japan's Kasivazaki Karia with almost 8,000 MW.

Source: Reuters