Nuclear option: Could Ireland emulate Finland’s energy model?

Colin Sheridan says Ireland would have to switch to the likes of the Mankala model if it wants to go nuclear

The nuclear power plant Olkiluoto in Finland. Curcially, their system is neither fully privatised nor fully state-owned. Its nuclear programme is underpinned by a model in which utilities and large electricity users co-invest in generation. File picture

When Taoiseach Micheál Martin said last week that Ireland should “seriously examine” the nuclear option, he reopened a question the State has largely avoided for decades: Could an island of 5m people realistically build a nuclear energy programme — and, if it did, what would that actually look like?

For years, the answer seemed obvious. Ireland had no nuclear tradition, abundant wind potential, and a political culture instinctively wary of atomic energy.