Finland to become EU’s sole uranium producer

EPA-EFE/TERRAFAME HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES
A handout photo dated 20 August 2015 made available by Finnish mining company Terrafame, showing a haul truck at Terrafame's mine in Sotkamo, Finland. Reports on 06 February 2020 state the Finnish government has given Terrafame a permission to mine and refine uranium at its mine in north-eastern Finland. The decision makes Terrafame the only country in European Union to mine uranium. The company is allowed to mine a maximum of 250 tons of uranium annually.

- Advertisement -

The Finnish government has granted a uranium recovery and refinery permit to Terrafame, making the country the EU’s only uranium producer.
The company’s main activities are related to nickel and zinc mining. Uranium is a by-product of the metal mining process. Terrafame, a 70% state-owned company, plans to refine the uranium into yellowcake, which is used as a fuel for nuclear power plants.
The aim is to export yellowcake to North America or other countries in Europe, for which the company needed an approval from the government, as well as from Euratom. It got the permission to produce up to 250 tonnes of uranium annually.
As the decision is subject to appeal at the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland, it could take up to two years until the approval enters into force.
The environmental NGO, the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation is one of the groups that are expected to appeal against the decision, as it says the permit violates the Nuclear Energy Act.

- Advertisement -

Subscribe to our newsletter

Latest

Zeno’s Arrow and Albania’s membership in the EU

Recently, the position of the incoming German government coalition...

On the two-year anniversary, G7 Foreign Ministers address the devastating war in Sudan

After nearly 23 months of war, on March 21,...

Doom, gloom or boom?

While it is an almost painful daily task to...

Don't miss

Zeno’s Arrow and Albania’s membership in the EU

Recently, the position of the incoming German government coalition...

On the two-year anniversary, G7 Foreign Ministers address the devastating war in Sudan

After nearly 23 months of war, on March 21,...

Doom, gloom or boom?

While it is an almost painful daily task to...

Romania utilizing all available resources to boost its energy independence

Romania is using all energy resources available, including natural gas as the country advances rapidly with Neptun Deep gas project and new wind and...

Apollo Funds to partner with BP on TANAP gas pipeline from Azerbaijan to Turkey

British energy company BP said on March 21 it has reached agreements for Apollo-managed funds to purchase a 25 percent non-controlling stake in BP...

Caspian-Black Sea Green Energy Corridor countries push project forward

The Ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Hungary and Romania met in Budapest on March 10, where they signed a joint letter to EU Energy Commissioner...

EU signs critical raw materials, energy and infrastructure deals with Kazakhstan

As part of the visit of EU Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Síkela to Astana, the European Union and Kazakhstan signed on March 13...

Weaning Europe off its Russian gas addiction

The Viking hero Ragnar Lodbrok once said “don't waste your time looking back. You're not going that way.” The words of the former king...

EU-Kazakhstan boost cooperation in energy, raw materials, transport, sustainability

The European Union and Kazakhstan have discussed at a meeting in Brussels the successful implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Central Asian...

Tashkent’s busy diplomatic agenda

In the coming months, Uzbekistan will host high-profile summits between Central Asia with the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council. As global geopolitics...

Tajikistan: The Battle for Middle Earth’s Resources

Tajikistan is a small land-locked country tucked away in southeast Central Asia. Its capital, Dushanbe, is almost equally distant, at approximately 4,500 kilometers, from...