A company has been set up with the aim of building nuclear power plants in Norway. Billionaire Trond Mohn’s company is the main shareholder.
The company Norsk Kjernekraft AS was founded in July.
Chairman Jonny Hesthammer confirms to VG that they will work to build and operate nuclear power plants in Norway.
According to Hesthammer, this must be realistic to achieve.
– This has been started after several years of analyses, of whether it is realistic that we will be able to implement this in ten to fifteen years. Then if there is something Norway needs and something there will be political will for, says Hesthammer to VG.
There has never been commercial operation of nuclear power in Norway, and there are no licensing processes and authorities to approve this.
The company has now informed the Directorate of Radiation Protection. They have three employees, who will make plans to introduce small modular reactors in Norway.
These are nuclear power plants the size of a football field, which can be mass-produced in factories abroad. According to Hesthammer, they have been in contact with the player GE Hitachi.
– In ten to fifteen years, several small modular reactors may be in place in Norway, says Hesthammer.
The main shareholder behind the newly started company is the billionaire Trond Mohn, through his companies Meteva and M Invest.
– Trond Mohn is part of the group of owners behind this, says Hesthammer.
– How much money has been invested?
– What I can say for now is that we have only established a company with minimal costs. What we are going to do is position ourselves for further growth, based on what we can bring in from funds, says Hesthammer.
– What do you expect from opposition?
– We expect that there will be great enthusiasm for this initiative, because we see that there are more people who are in favor of nuclear power than against in Norway, says Hesthammer, and refers to a survey carried out by Norstat.
According to NVE CEO Kjetil Lund, there is not a structure in place that makes Norway suitable for nuclear power.
– We do not have the expertise, the institutions and the experience. Whether we are going to build it up in Norway is a political question. But nuclear power is unlikely to be either a quick or a cheap solution in Norway, says Lund to VG.
