Local media reports suggest that Finnish industry wants to see a sixth nuclear power station developed in Finland, with Timo Rajala, chief executive of Finnish power group Pohjolan Voima Oy (PVO) reportedly saying: "We should be able to make a decision on a nuclear power station by 2008 and it would then be finished in 2015."
PVO wants to build more nuclear stations to meet increasing demand and mitigate the phase-out of elderly fossil-fuelled stations.
2008 is seen as significant for the political decision to be made on a new reactor as the term of the current Prime Minister, Matti Vanhanen, ends in 2007. Vanhanen is thought to be opposed to nuclear power and has stressed that any application for a new reactor would be handled according to the law.
