Estonia Shortlists Three Locations For First BWRX-300 Nuclear Power Plant

Estonia said it will now focus on three potential locations in the Viru-Nigula region in the north of the country for the development of its first nuclear power plants having discarded three sites for what it called “national security reasons”.

In a statement, the Estonian government said that the Madala, Malla and Letipea sites would be the three sites considered to host Estonia-based project development company Fermi Energia’s planned development of two 300-MW GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy BWRX-300 small modular reactors (SMRs).

Three sites in Lüganuse municipality, also in the north of the country, were excluded from plans due to national defence reasons, a decision based on assessment guidelines outlined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the risk profile of sites.

Project manager Agnes Lihts said that while the number of potential sites had decreased, eight municipalities will still be involved in the plans given the broad industrial and infrastructure works required for a nuclear plant.

“In addition to the plant itself, the electrical connections, cooling water lines, access roads and other infrastructure necessary for its operation must also be planned, the route corridors of which may still pass through the territories of these municipalities.

“The locations of the substations considered so far have also not changed,” said Lihts.

Estonia expects to choose a site for the reactors by the end of 2027, with firm plans to move forward by 2030 and for the plant to be operational around 2035.

Fermi Energia has said it expects to submit a construction permit application for the proposed plant in 2029, with construction targeted to begin in 2031.

Estonia says the plants will help it become more energy independent as the country relies heavily on imported electricity and domestically produced shale oil.

In June this year, Estonia’s parliament passed a bill to allow the development of nuclear energy, which would take effect from the beginning of 2027.

A poll at the beginning of the year showed a large majority of Estonians supported the deployment of a nuclear plant.

The Estonia project will learn from experience of the Darlington BWRX-300 project in Canada, which will be the first site to deploy the technology and where the first unit is expected to be operational by around 2030.

The BWRX-300 is a 300-MW boiling water reactor developed by GE Vernova Hitachi. It uses established boiling water reactor technology but incorporates significant design simplifications.