No surprises in the radioactivity of nuclear power plant environment last year
The concentrations of radioactive substances from Finnish nuclear power plants in the environment are low, and they have no significance for radiation exposure to the environment and people, according to the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority’s report " Monitoring of radioactivity in the environment of Finnish nuclear power plants : Annual report 2023".
Over the years, Fortum and Teollisuuden Voima have upgraded their nuclear power plants to ensure that significantly fewer radioactive substances are released into the environment today than when the plants were first in operation. According to the report from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), this can also be detected in the environment. Lower and lower levels of radioactivity are being measured in water, air, plants and animals.
The most significant radioactive substances in nuclear power plant environments in Finland, therefore, originate elsewhere than from the adjacent nuclear power plant. The traces of the Chernobyl disaster and nuclear weapon experiments in the atmosphere decades ago are still detectable in measurements.
STUK monitors the radiation levels of the environment by collecting samples from the land and sea environments as well as outdoor air in the vicinity of the Loviisa nuclear power plant and the Olkiluoto plant in Eurajoki. STUK also monitors the levels of radioactive substances in people living in the vicinity of the power plants.
The environmental samples are analysed at STUK’s laboratory. The radioactive substances contained in the collected samples are determined by gamma spectrometry and radiochemical analysis methods. The radioactivity of the local residents is measured in a laboratory that STUK has built inside a lorry.
Olkiluoto 3 showed practically no changes in radiation
In December 2021, Teollisuuden Voima launched a nuclear reaction in Finland’s newest and largest nuclear reactor in Olkiluoto, Eurajoki, for the first time. After a trial run, Olkiluoto 3 started regular electricity production in April 2023.
According to STUK’s monitoring, the impact of the new nuclear power plant on the radiation levels in the Olkiluoto environment is as expected: practically insignificant. The environment and people are as safe from the harmful effects of radiation as before.
Radioactive hydrogen, tritium (H-3) and radioactive carbon (C-14) are examples of substances whose release into the environment depends on the amount of energy produced in the nuclear reaction. Their annual emissions from old plants remain almost unchanged year after year. Tritium is also released into the environment at Olkiluoto 3, and the increase is reflected in the total emissions reported by TVO.
However, the tritium released from Olkiluoto 3 into the environment has no significant effect on the tritium concentrations in seawater. At most, tritium concentrations measured in seawater have been below five per cent of the maximum concentration set by the Council of Europe for drinking water and other domestic water.
STUK’s environmental monitoring complements and verifies the companies’ own environmental monitoring. Nuclear power companies are responsible for the safety of nuclear power plants and have their own comprehensive environmental radioactivity monitoring programs. STUK’s monitoring results for 2023 are consistent with the power companies’ monitoring results.
Link to the report Monitoring of radioactivity in the environment of Finnish nuclear power plants : Annual report 2023
