The possibility of nuclear energy began to be considered more seriously in Estonia in 2006, when the Prime Ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia signed a joint statement in support of the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania. The three Baltic States jointly launched a nuclear power plant development project. The construction of the plant came to the fore in connection with the closure of the Lithuanian RBMK-type Ignalina nuclear power plant, which was one of the conditions of the Treaty of Accession to the European Union.
In connection with the nuclear power plant development plan, Eesti Energia, led by Sandor Liive, also started to take strong steps to develop the nuclear energy sector in Estonia. Among other things, the energy company sent three TUT/TalTech master's students in the field of energy to the highly regarded Royal Swedish University of Technology to acquire knowledge in nuclear energy. Later, one more Estonian, Marti Jeltsov, joined them. It can be said with great certainty that these four - Merja Pukari, Henri Ormus, Kaspar Kööp and Marti Jeltsov - are among Estonia's most valued nuclear experts today. Merja Pukari, Kaspar Kööp and Marti Jeltsov have graduated with a doctorate degree in nuclear energy, and Henri Ormus has worked for many years at Fennovoima, the company that is building the new Hanhikivi nuclear power plant in Finland.
Years later, on the initiative of Member of Academy Anto Raukas, MTÜ Eesti Tuumajaam was formed, with Kalev Kallemets as its CEO. The aim of the association was to analyze the possibilities of building a nuclear power plant in Estonia in circumstances where the construction of a Lithuanian nuclear power plant was hampered due to domestic political struggles. In addition to economic considerations, there was a growing interest in the development of nuclear energy in Estonia in connection with the domestic political situation in Lithuania, which culminated in a negative decision in the referendum on the construction of the Lithuanian nuclear power plant. [i]The above led to Eesti Energia looking for suitable locations for the nuclear power plant. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications drafted the Nuclear Energy Act.
At the same time, the construction of a number of nuclear power plants in Europe had slowed down, as it became apparent that new projects are more costly and time-consuming than expected due to a break of more than twenty years in nuclear power plant construction. At the same time, however, the recession reduced the demand for energy, and therefore Estonia's interest in building a nuclear power plant also subsided. Instead, the Estonian government, together with Eesti Energia, decided to build a new 300 MWe oil shale power plant in Auvere.
The tangible idea of Estonia's nuclear power plant remained collecting dust for years, until in the summer of 2018 Kalev Kallemets, Kaspar Kööp and Henri Ormus met. Being well versed in the latest developments in the nuclear field, they discussed the possibility of building a completely different, new generation nuclear power plant in Estonia, based on small modular reactors licensed in Canada and the United States. A good example was the business model used by Teolisuuden Voima and Fennovoima in Finland, where the nuclear power plant is owned by energy consumers all over the country. Technologies that developed rapidly meanwhile have turned nuclear energy into a future energy solution worth considering for Estonia again, which would help to ensure a reasonable energy price, energy security and the fulfillment of climate goals that have become nationally important.
After thorough preliminary work, Kalev Kallemets, Sandor Liive, Henri Ormus, Kaspar Kööp, Marti Jeltsov, Merja Pukari and Mait Müntel founded OÜ Fermi Energia. The founders are united by the conviction that in order to achieve carbon reduction targets, a country's energy portfolio must include a managed form of carbon-free energy that does not require subsidization. Due to the lack of mountain rivers in Estonia, only nuclear energy can achieve this.
[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Lithuanian_nuclear_power_referendum