Natural uranium mining has begun at the Sotkamo industrial site, making Finland the first EU member state to operate uranium mines, the mining company Terrafame has reported, UNN reports.
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The full production capacity is planned to be reached by 2026, when the production volume will be approximately 200 tons per year. The Finnish Olkiluoto-3 nuclear power plant consumes about the same amount of uranium in nine months of operation. The mine is planned to be used for at least 30 years. Uranium will be shipped abroad for processing and then used in nuclear energy.
Terrafame received a permit to start production in 2020.
The extracted uranium oxide is not highly radioactive; it is dangerous mainly because of its chemical properties, like other heavy metals, the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) explained. However, uranium oxide is used to produce fuel for nuclear power plants, and it becomes very radioactive in the reactor.
The ore from Sotkamo has a low concentration of uranium, approximately 17 mg/kg. Such concentrations are also found in other parts of Finnish rocks.
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By increasing production to 200 tons of uranium per year, Finland will rank seventh in the world's top producers along with South Africa. The industry leader as of 2022 was Kazakhstan (21,227 tons), followed by Canada (7351), Namibia (5613), Australia (4553), Uzbekistan (3300), Russia (2508), Niger (2020), China (1700), and India (600).
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