Finnish municipal decision-makers favourable to SMRs

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2024-07-09 16:30:07

Decision-makers in Finland's largest cities have a positive attitude towards the construction of small modular reactors in their municipalities, a survey commissioned by Finnish SMR developer Steady Energy has shown.

Among the municipal decision-makers in big Finnish cities, an average of 86% said they support the construction of SMRs, while only 11% are opposed. The most favourable municipal decision-makers are in Tampere (94%), Espoo (93%), Lahti (94%), Turku (91%) and Helsinki (89%).

Municipal decision-makers in Vantaa have the least positive attitude towards the construction of SMRs, although 69% of them have a very, or somewhat positive attitude.

The younger the municipal decision-maker who answered the survey, the more positive the attitude was, Steady Energy noted. According to the survey, of the municipal decision-makers aged 35 or older, all have a positive attitude towards SMRs, with 78% having very positive attitudes.

The respondents to the survey justify their positive position on SMRs primarily as a way to reduce carbon emissions. This justification was used by one in three. The next most important reasons were safety, self-sufficiency and security of supply. The decision-makers were also asked what methods their own municipality should use for heat production. The most popular answers were heat pumps using waste heat and SMRs.