Terrafame's uranium mining application gets positive nod from Finnish regulator

Finland's radiation and nuclear safety authority (STUK) issued a positive recommendation for miner Terrafame's application to mine uranium commercially, STUK said on Tuesday. Its recommendation will influence the government's decision on whether or not to grant Terrafame a permit, which would allow the firm to become the first miner to extract uranium on a commercial scale in the country.

"There are no radiation safety-related obstacles for granting a permit for the uranium recovery plants of Terrafame," STUK said in a statement. If Terrafame gets the permit, it has said it estimated it can start uranium mining towards the end of 2019 and would make a 10 million euros ($11.32 million) investment to expand one of its plants.

($1 = 0.8835 euros)