Russia plans new nuclear reactors 100 km from Finland — STUK says they improve safety

Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom has received approval from Russian regulators to begin preparatory work for two new nuclear reactors near the existing Kola plant, located about 100 km from the Finnish border, Finnish radiation safety authorities said on Thursday.

According to Aapo Tanskanen, a senior expert at Finland’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), the new VVER-type reactors represent a significant safety upgrade over the aging units currently in operation. The existing reactors at the Kola plant date to the 1970s and 1980s, and the first two of the four are set to be replaced by the new units, with the remaining two to follow later.

The new reactors, with an electrical output of 600 MW each, are designed to meet modern international safety standards and feature substantially improved safety systems compared to the older VVER-440 models, Tanskanen said. The older units were originally licensed for 30 years but have been granted extensions, bringing their operational lifespan to around 60 years through refurbishment and system upgrades.

Rosatom announced that preparatory work—including site planning, forest clearing, access road construction, and foundation preparation—will begin shortly, with full commissioning expected within roughly a decade.

Tanskanen also noted that while Russia has historically been slow to report nuclear accidents, such as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the country now has a strategic interest in demonstrating reliability as a nuclear technology exporter, particularly to regions such as Africa and along the Northern Sea Route.