Finland Signals Russian-Backed Nuclear Project Faces Halt

  • Finnish minister says construction permit can’t proceed
  • Government faces legal predicament in shutting down project
Mika LintilaPhotographer: Emmi Korhonen/AFP/Getty Images
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Finland’s Economy Minister Mika Lintila signaled that the Russian-backed nuclear project Fennovoima Oy would not be granted a construction permit in the Nordic country.

“As the presenting minister, a permissioning authority of sorts, I do not see a scenario in which I could present that to the government,” Lintila said in parliament on Thursday following Russia’s attack on Ukraine. About a third of the greenfield Hanhikivi-1 atomic reactor project belongs to Rosatom Corp., the Russian government-owned plant supplier, and a construction permit was expected this year.