Finnish energy group Steady Energy has signed a letter of intent with Alva-yhtiöt, the city of Jyväskylä’s water and energy group, to study the suitability of small-scale nuclear power as a source of district heating for the city. Steady Energy on May 19 said it could supply Jyväskylä with between two and six LDR-50 reactors, which would produce 100 MW to 300 MW of heat underground to serve the city’s needs. The companies said the letter of intent supports a study to address the suitability of Steady Energy’s LDR-50 small nuclear heating plant for producing the city’s district heating, and to assess potential sites and the construction timetable. The companies are launching a year-long preliminary study, which will look at the feasibility of small nuclear heating plants in Jyväskylä from the perspectives of regulation, residents’ views, potential sites, land-use planning, technology and costs, among other factors. The companies said they may proceed to a concrete technical and commercial pre-planning phase after the study. 
Steady Energy builds its reactor underground. The nuclear facility produces heat that is then moved to a district heating system. Source: Steady Energy “We want to carefully assess whether small-scale nuclear power can be a suitable solution for Jyväskylä’s future heat production. At this stage, we are not making an investment decision, but we are investigating the prerequisites and gathering as much information as possible to support our final decision,” said Alex Schreckenbach, production director for Alva. 