Dismantling of FiR 1 research reactor to start in June 2023 

The dismantling of the FiR 1 research reactor at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. in Otaniemi, Espoo, started in June 2023.
 
In June 2021, the Government granted VTT a licence to under section 20 of the Nuclear Energy Act to decommission and dismantle the research reactor. The licence defines the conditions for decommissioning and dismantling the research reactor. After dismantling, the research reactor facilities are released for other uses. The research reactor is the first nuclear facility to be dismantled in Finland. The licence is available on the Finnish pages. 

The decommissioning and dismantling of the research reactor was prepared over a long period of time. The licence application was preceded by an environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure carried out by VTT between 2013 and 2015, which included an EIA programme and report in accordance with the Act on Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure (468/1994). The EIA programme is the project developer's plan for the necessary studies and the organisation of the assessment procedure. The EIA report is a document that provides information on the project and its alternatives, including an inte-grated assessment of their environmental impact. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Employment issued an opinion on the EIA programme in 2014 and on the EIA report in 2015. The documents related to the environmental impact assessment procedure are available on the Finnish pages.

VTT has a contract with Fortum Power and Heat Ltd. to dispose of dismantling waste at the Loviisa nuclear power plant site. VTT returned the spent nuclear fuel from the research reactor to the US between 2020 and 2021.

VTT's FiR 1 research reactor was the first nuclear reactor in Finland. The research reactor had a thermal power of 250 kW. VTT shut down the reactor in summer 2015. The research reactor was commissioned in 1962 and was used for research, teaching, radiation therapy and isotope production.

Further information: linda.kumpula(at)gov.fi