A sixth nuclear power plant for Finland?

The energy companies Teollisuuden Voima Oy and Fortum will be starting procedures for assessing the environmental effects of the possible construction of a sixth nuclear power plant. The Ministry of Trade and Industry will be acting as the liaising authority.

The assessment reports will include descriptions of options, a study of the environment and the environmental effects of the project and proposals about action that will prevent and limit harmful effects to the environment.

The handling of the assessment programme and assessment report will include Ministry of Trade and Industry procedures for obtaining comments. Ordinary citizens will also have an opportunity to express their opinions about the project during requests for comments either in writing or on the Internet.

The Ministry estimates that the assessment of environmental effects at Olkiluoto and Loviisa will last at least a year.

RFID technology for China

VTT is developing a traffic and road toll monitoring system in China based on long-range RFID remote identification technology. The technology will be introduced first in Wuhan, a city with seven million inhabitants.

Readers will be installed in all the city's bridges for road toll purposes this year. The aim is to expand the RFID reading system to cover the entire city and use it for traffic control purposes.

If the system is extended to the rest of the country, millions of readers and hundreds of millions of RFID tags will be needed. The large volume and costs of the tags and readers will keep their costs low.

VTT has been actively involved in developing RFID technology for over 10 years and has exported it worldwide. The technology will be exported to China through FennoID, a Finnish company set up expressly for the purpose.

>> www.vtt.fi

Promising Finnish companies

The Finnish companies Codenomicon, Enfucell, Ball-IT and Blyk are among the most promising European technology companies, according to the economic magazine Red Herring.

Every year the magazine selects from Europe, the Middle East and Africa one hundred privately owned technology companies that it considers to be the most promising of all. Previous inclusions in its list are Skype, Google and eBay.

"The impressive list of winners for this year shows that Europe has achieved a major role in the global technology sector," says the editor-in-chief Joel Dreyfuss.

The Oulu-based Codenomicon Oy makes, develops and markets state-of-the-art software tools that test reliability and security. Enfucell Oy in Espoo has developed the thin, flexible SoftBattery, which can be used in particular in disposable electronic products.

Ball-IT, another company that operates out of Oulu, makes real-time wireless sensor solutions for consumer devices. The mobile phone operator Blyk offers consumers free mobile-phone connections funded by adverts transmitted to the phone.

>> www.codenomicon.com
>> www.enfucell.com
>> www.ball-it.com
>> www.blyk.com

Finnish wellbeing aiming for the top

Finnish wellbeing expertise is on its way to the top. The preparatory work of the Finnish cluster of strategic excellence in health and wellbeing is proceeding fast.

The objective of the cluster is to bring together the existing excellence in the field and to sharpen the competitive edge of Finnish know-how in health and welfare.

"The health and well-being sector is a good example of a field in which technological innovations are combined with operating-method and process innovations," says Research Professor Niilo Saranummi from VTT.

"Finland's leading position is being strengthened not only by a positive attitude to technology but also a comprehensive online patient system nationwide and the top-level IT expertise of the health-care personnel."

As the population ages, it must be possible to develop the effectiveness, productivity, quality and availability of services quickly. This will require new services, structures and business models as well as new technologies.

>> www.tekes.fi

Spare parts for human-beings

A new forming method of biomaterials makes it possible to construct smaller and more accurate biomaterial scale structures i.e. microscopically small "spare parts for human beings".

The biomaterial scale structures are needed in scaffolds used for new tissue grown from stem cells, such as liver, heart and nerve tissues, and placed inside human-beings. The method makes it possible to reproduce the smallest structures of the human system.

In addition to precision, one of the advantages of the method is the use of inexpensive, low-power lasers. Supporting the 3D Forming method, which is based on a so-called pulse laser, are VTT, Tampere University of Technology and Nanofoot Finland Oy, which specializes in laser machining.

>> www.vtt.fi

Sales permit for bioresorbable implants

Bioretec Oy, a Tampere-based biomaterials company, has obtained a sales permit in the United States for bioresorbable surgical devices used in operations.

Bioretec will start distribution cooperation with Tornier, a large American company that markets orthopaedic products. The turnover next year is expected to be about 1 million euros.

"Thanks to biomaterials, confinement to hospital is shortened by up to a half. A bioresorbable implant doesn't need to be removed," says CEO Risto Penttilä.

Bioretec's activities focus on the research, development and production of bioresorbable, bioactive, and drug-releasing devices into surgical implants. The company was established in 1998.

>> www.bioretec.com

Suomen Terveystalo goes public

Suomen Terveystalo Oyj has been listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Trading in the company's shares started in April.

The intention is to use the funds acquired through the share issue for implementing the company's strategy, which requires investment in corporate acquisitions and faster growth. The company will also be focusing on cooperating with partners in the public sector and looking into the scope for expanding into new business areas for health care services. The company will also be endeavouring to strengthen its leadership in new, innovative health care services.

Suomen Terveystalo is Finland's most extensive private clinic chain, offering healthcare, occupational health and hospital services.

>> www.terveystalo.com

Turning biomass into products

BioRefine, a five-year technology programme started in May by Tekes, will create new and unique expertise in the processing of biomass.

The aim of the technology programme (2007-2012) is to adapt existing Finnish expertise to the creation of new processes, products and services associated with biorefineries. The programme will network those with specialist skills in different areas to cooperate in creating commercial innovations for domestic and worldwide markets.

The purpose is to promote the development and use of second-generation production technology in biofuels for transport. This is also a major objective for Finland's energy policies.

Growth is strongest on the market for liquid biofuels. In 2004 the European biofuels market was worth more than 2 billion euros and it is expected to increase to 11 billion euros by 2010.

>> www.tekes.fi/biorefine

Climate report ready

The latest Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was completed at the beginning of May, says that the rise in the Earth's temperature will be small if all countries limit their emissions a lot and quickly in the next few decades.

Emissions of greenhouse gases went up by 70 per cent between 1970 and 2004. Without restraining action the emissions will have increased by 2030 from 25 to 90 per cent from turn of the century.

The report adds that energy choices and energy savings are the most important ways of preventing climate change. Emissions can also be cut by storing carbon dioxide.

According to the report, the price of a carbon dioxide emission is good way of controlling emissions. The price is affected by emissions trading, taxes and charges. The price of carbon per ton should be made higher than at present, 20-50 US dollars, to keep the rise in temperature at three degrees (Source: Finnish News Agency).

Support for super university

The technology industry supports the super university project announced in February, the aim being to combine Helsinki School of Economics, Helsinki University of Technology and the University of Art and Design Helsinki into one university.

The board of the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries and a special anniversary foundation (Teknologiateollisuuden 100 vuotissäätiö) have decided to reserve a total of 80 million euros for the university's foundation share capital. The commitment is conditional upon the Government making the decisions presented in the report of the working party preparing the venture.

"The competitiveness of Finnish industry and service companies is greatly dependent on the level of research and education at universities. Top-grade research and teaching can have a material effect on the creation of new jobs," states Ole Johansson.

The Federation thinks the development of the top-level university in technology, economics and design is important. International competition for expertise, which is becoming intensely ferocious, requires the assembling of national resources and good cooperation between the public sector and business life.

>> www.teknologiateollisuus.fi