State-owned STUK International will start operations

The Government has authorised the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health to establish STUK International Ltd which is a limited liability company wholly owned by the state. The capital of one million euros and other establishment costs of the company will be financed from the appropriations reserved for the purpose in this year’s Budget. The company’s memorandum and articles of association were approved by the Government on 17 November.

STUK International Ltd will provide expert services to promote safety in the use of nuclear energy and radiation and engage in research and development in the field. It will be operating globally.

The company’s board of directors will have between one and five regular members under the articles of association. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health proposes that Ilona Lindholm from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland would be the chair of the company’s first board of directors and that the regular members would be Ilpo Nuutinen from the Prime Minister's Office, Jorma Aurela from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment as well as Petteri Tiippana and Kirsi Alm-Lytz from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK). The board of directors will appoint a CEO for the company following a public recruitment process.
 
The operations and finances of STUK International Ltd and STUK, which will still perform official duties, will be clearly separate and independent of each other.

Corporatisation gives new opportunities for making the sale of STUK’s current international expert services more profitable and in line with market terms. A company has an advantage over an authority because it can better respond to competition in the field and react to the needs of clients from different countries. Moreover, risk management will be more effective when the operations are market based and not part of an authority.

The clients of STUK International Ltd will include national radiation and nuclear safety authorities around the world as well as other actors in the field. The company would continue the ongoing development work on radiation and nuclear safety with Saudi Arabia, among other projects. It would also pursue nuclear safety cooperation with nuclear power plants in the Kola Peninsula and the Leningrad Oblast.

N.B. The press release was corrected on 17 November at 15.30 concerning the section on the first board of directors for STUK International Ltd.

Inquiries

Mikko Paunio, Senior Adviser for Health Affairs, tel. +358 295 163312, [email protected]

• Radiation protection

• Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority