Nuclear Reactor to Deliver District Heating

A test facility with a nuclear reactor is currently being built in Helsinki to produce district heating. The project could be crucial for future urban heating.

In a former turbine hall at the coal-fired power plant in Sundholmen, a pilot version of a nuclear reactor will produce district heating. Instead of uranium, the reactor core will contain electric heating elements.

In the long run, however, the municipal energy company Helen aims to obtain permission to build an actual nuclear power plant for heat production in Helsinki.

– We are as serious as one possibly can be, says Pekka Tolonen, CEO of Helen Nuclar Power Ab, according to Yle.

The pilot plant will be used to test, among other things, the reactor’s passive safety systems, and the ambition is for the reactor to be safe even without external cooling in an emergency.

– We will always reach a situation where the chain reaction in the reactor stops. But all nuclear reactors produce heat even after shutdown. The key is to remove the heat so that a meltdown does not occur, says Tommi Nyman, CEO of Steady Energy, according to Yle.

Steady Energy has developed a reactor concept aimed at commercial use in urban environments, where the reactor will only produce district heating. The reactor is relatively small and operates at lower temperatures and pressures than conventional power reactors, which allows for shorter safety distances and the possibility to place the facility underground.

Rising Interest

One module is expected to deliver around 50 megawatts of heat, and to meet Helsinki’s needs, up to a dozen modules may be required. Helen is evaluating three possible locations for a future facility and plans to decide before the end of next year which location will proceed to permit review and project planning. At the same time, a half-dozen different reactor models are being analyzed, some of which can also produce electricity.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, interest in underground reactors has increased. At the same time, surveys show that a majority of Helsinki residents are positive about nuclear energy. The first commercial reactor could be operational as early as the beginning of the 2030s.