5 June 2007 - Finnish energy provider Fortum has launched an environmental impact assessment (EIA) process to evaluate the possibility of building a new 1000 MW to 1800 MW nuclear power plant at the company's Loviisa nuclear power site at Hastholmen, Sweden.

Fortum said that the Loviisa 3 project is intended to increase the production of environmentally-benign, cost-effective domestic energy. Fortum is required to carry out the EIA before it can submit an application for the plant. The process will look at the plant's impacts on the environment, on health and safety, and on the local community and economy.

Special attention is focused on evaluating the environmental impact of the cooling water, Fortum added.

The EIA program will be compiled for submission to the Ministry of Trade and Industry by the end of June 2007. Once the ministry's statement on the program has been received, work on the actual EIA report can begin. Fortum said that it will submit its Loviisa EIA report to the ministry in June 2008.