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Nuclear power produces a reliable supply of electricity at a competitive and predictable price. The majority of the world's nuclear power plant reactors are light water reactors that use ordinary water as the neutron moderator and as the fuel coolant. There are two basic types of light water reactors: boiling water reactors and pressurised water reactors. Of the world's nuclear reactors used for electricity production, about 66% are pressurised water reactors and about 23% boiling water reactors.
As a carbon dioxide-free form of energy production, nuclear power plays an important role in curbing climate change. In a life-cycle comparison, the carbon dioxide emissions of nuclear power are just as low as wind, hydro and solar power.
Nuclear power accounts for about one third of the electricity production in Finland. Even though it has been decades since a new nuclear power plant has been taken into use in the Nordic countries, the share of nuclear power has grown significantly through the increased capacity of the existing plants.
The most significant environmental impact of a nuclear power plant during operation is the increased water temperature in the immediate vicinity of the power plant as a result of cooling water, when sea water cooling is used. The impact can be reduced by building the nuclear plant as a combined heat and power plant (CHP). This would increase the plant's energy efficiency by several tens of percents.
Read more about Fortum and nuclear power
