Licensing Model Development for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) - Focusing on the Finnish Regulatory Framework

Recently, Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) have attracted increased public discussion. While large nuclear power plant new build projects are facing challenges, the focus of attention is turning to small modular reactors. One particular project challenge arises in the area of nuclear licensing, which plays a significant role in new build projects affecting their quality as well as costs and schedules. This dissertation - positioned in the field of nuclear engineering but also with a significant section in the field of systems engineering - examines the nuclear licensing processes and their suitability for the characteristics of SMRs. The study investigates the licensing processes in selected countries, as well as other safety critical industry fields. Viewing the licensing processes and their separate licensing steps in terms of SMRs, the study adopts two different analysis theories for review and comparison. The primary data consists of a literature review, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaire responses concerning licensing processes and practices. The result of the study is a recommendation for a new, optimized licensing process for SMRs. The most important SMR-specific feature, in terms of licensing, is the modularity of the design. Here the modularity indicates multi-module SMR designs, which creates new challenges in the licensing process. As this study focuses on Finland, the main features of the new licensing process are adapted to the current Finnish licensing process, aiming to achieve the main benefits with minimal modifications to the current process. The application of the new licensing process is developed using Systems Engineering, Requirements Management, and Project Management practices and tools. Nuclear licensing includes a large amount of data and documentation which needs to be managed in a suitable manner throughout the new build project and then during the whole life cycle of the nuclear power plant. To enable a smooth licensing process and therefore ensure the success of the new build nuclear power plant project, management processes and practices play a significant role. This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of how licensing processes are structured and how they are put into action in practice. The findings clarify the suitability of different licensing processes and their selected licensing steps for SMR licensing. The results combine the most suitable licensing steps into a new licensing process for SMRs. The results are also extended to the concept of licensing management practices and tools.

Iran's domestic and foreign policies

Iran has a reputation of being a problematic country. Right now, it is proceeding with its nuclear program despite the opposition of the West and neighboring countries and the massive sanctions inflicted upon it. The country is also struggling with domestic issues. Half of Iran’s population belongs to different ethnic or religious minorities. They have poor rights to express their culture in the country, which is a cause of dissatisfaction among non-Shiite and non-Persian citizens. After the Arab Spring, the situation in Iran is getting more topical than ever. In the Syrian conflict, the Shiite Iran is constantly giving support to al-Assad’s regime. These are all factors that have aggravated the already irritated relations between Iran and the West.

On the effects of new forms of foreign aid

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‘Just how (re)usable is Research Data? A legal perspective’ - A poster summarizing the recommendations of the OpenAIRE legal and licensing study.

Poster at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

Foreign Operation Mode Strategies of Finnish Companies in Russia

The object of this study was to examine foreign operation mode strategies used by Finnish companies in Russia. Thus, it was necessary to understand how Finnish companies have used foreign operation modes and which factors have influenced on their foreign operation mode strategies in Russia. Moreover, the purpose was also to find out that have Finnish companies switched, stretched or combined their foreign operation modes. The study's empirical part was conducted as a semi structured qualitative within-case and cross-case analysis of seven case companies that are selected to represent different industries. There are five Finnish LSEs and two Finnish SMEs as case companies. The results of this study indicated that Finnish companies have mainly used exporting as their initial entry mode to the Russian market. After they had gained understanding and experience of the Russian market, they switched from non-equity and simple foreign operation modes to more challenging and equity demanding foreign operation modes, and established wholly owned operations.

Foreign Direct Investment and Shareholder Wealth Gains: Evidence from Finnish FDI in China

In Finnish discourse, “The China Effect” refers to the surge of offshoring activities by Western companies to China during the past couple of decades. Inspired by event studies concerning announcements of foreign direct investment, this thesis investigates the market’s reaction to Finnish companies’ announcement of FDI targeting the People’s Republic of China. Standard event study methodology is applied to 135 announcements related to subsidiaries, joint ventures and acquisitions between 1997 and 2014. The data is checked for contamination by unrelated coinciding events and outliers. A positive average abnormal return is found to take place on the date of the announcement. Additionally, the abnormal returns are found to exist only for projects announced before 2008, and only when the investment project is new, as opposed to investments made to extend previously established projects. Ownership arrangement and the novelty of facilities do not influence the market’s reaction towards the investment announcement.

Value at Risk in Foreign Exchange Risk Management

This thesis examines the suitability of VaR in foreign exchange rate risk management from the perspective of a European investor. The suitability of four different VaR models is evaluated in respect to have insight if VaR is a valuable tool in managing foreign exchange rate risk. The models evaluated are historical method, historical bootstrap method, variance-covariance method and Monte Carlo simulation. The data evaluated are divided into emerging and developed market currencies to have more intriguing analysis. The foreign exchange rate data in this thesis is from 31st January 2000 to 30th April 2014. The results show that the previously mentioned VaR models performance in foreign exchange risk management is not to be considered as a single tool in foreign exchange rate risk management. The variance-covariance method and Monte Carlo simulation performs poorest in both currency portfolios. Both historical methods performed better but should also be considered as an additional tool along with other more sophisticated analysis tools. A comparative study of VaR estimates and forward prices is also included in the thesis. The study reveals that regardless of the expensive hedging cost of emerging market currencies the risk captured by VaR is more expensive and thus FX forward hedging is recommended

Foreign Direct Investment, Clean Development Mechanism, and Environmental Management: A case of Sub-Saharan Africa

This doctoral dissertation explores the contribution of environmental management practices, the so-called clean development mechanism (CDM) projects, and foreign direct investment (FDI) in achieving sustainable development in developing countries, particularly in Sub- Saharan Africa. Because the climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most serious global environmental challenges, the main focus is on the causal links between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, energy consumption, and economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the dissertation investigates the factors that have affected the distribution of CDM projects in developing countries and the relationships between FDI and other macroeconomic variables of interest. The main contribution of the dissertation is empirical. One of the publications uses crosssectional data and Tobit and Poisson regressions. Three of the studies use time-series data and vector autoregressive and vector error correction models, while two publications use panel data and panel data estimation methods. One of the publications uses thus both timeseries and panel data. The concept of Granger causality is utilized in four of the publications. The results indicate that there are significant differences in the Granger causality relationships between CO2 emissions, energy consumption, economic growth, and FDI in different countries. It appears also that the causality relationships change over time. Furthermore, the results support the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis but only for some of the countries. As to CDM activities, past emission levels, institutional quality, and the size of the host country appear to be among the significant determinants of the distribution of CDM projects. FDI and exports are also found to be significant determinants of economic growth.

Foreign companies’ strategies on the Russian market during the crisis

Concept of crisis is the subject of many studies and publications in specialized articles and in journalistic publications. The thesis includes next key objectives: concept of the crisis is defined, disclosed external and internal factors affected company’s strategy, shown specific characteristics of Russian market and their influence on the foreign companies. The Master’s Thesis identifies successful foreign companies’ strategies on the Russian market during crises in 2008 and 2014. The study is qualitative and it is based on integrative analysis of literature, secondary data and results of the interview, conducted among foreign companies that operates on the Russian market Findings of the thesis show an effect of the crisis on the company’s strategy. It provides information about specific external and internal factors that affects on company’s strategy during the crisis. Theoretical findings help to understand complex concept of crisis and its main aspects in context of strategy. Analysis of specific characteristics of Russian market provides a base for assessment of efficiency of chosen strategy. Comparison between Russian cresses and companies behaviors in these periods shows how different is strategy because of the nature of the crisis. Results of the thesis could be used as a guideline for foreign companies in Russian market during the crisis period

Determination of myocardial infarction size in rats by echocardiography and tetrazolium staining: correlation, agreements, and simplifications

Triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining and echocardiography (ECHO) are methods used to determine experimental myocardial infarction (MI) size, whose practical applicability should be expanded. Our objectives were to analyze the accuracy of ECHO in determining infarction size in rats during the first days following coronary occlusion and to test whether a simplified single measurement by TTC correctly indicates MI size, as determined by the average value for multiple slices. Infarction was induced in female Wistar rats by coronary artery occlusion and MI size analysis was performed after the acute (7th day) and chronic periods (after 4 weeks) by ECHO matched with TTC. ECHO and TTC showed similar values of MI size (% of left ventricle perimeter) in acute (ECHO: 33 ± 11, TTC: 35 ± 14) and chronic (ECHO: 38 ± 14, TTC: 39 ± 13 periods), and also presented an excellent correlation (r = 0.92, P < 0.001). Although measurements from different heart planes showed discrepancies, a single measurement acquired from the mid-ventricular level by TTC was a good estimate of MI size calculated by the average of multiple planes, with minimal disagreement (Bland-Altman test with mean ratio bias of 0.99 ± 0.07) and close to an ideal correlation (r = 0.99, P < 0.001). In the present study, ECHO was confirmed as a useful method for the determination of MI size even in the acute phase. Also, the single measure of a mid-ventricular section proposed as a simplification of the TTC method is a satisfactory prediction of average MI extension.

The transforming network of a foreign company operating in Mongolia. Case: A Finnish firm in Mongolia

In the globalising business environment ever fewer market areas remain unknown. Mongolia is yet only considered as an isolated strip between two power states. The purpose of this study is to put Mongolia on the map of academic business research. This is done by describing the transforming network of a foreign company operating in Mongolia. The objective of the study is approached through a case study, which presents the transformation of a Finnish company operating in Mongolia. This study aims at providing understanding on how the foreign case company observes the transformations of its network. The transformation within the case company is reflected to the transformations that occur in the Mongolian business environment. This study was conducted through a qualitative, intrinsic case study approach. The empirical data was gathered by using the method of network pictures. The network pictures were completed with the assistance of themed interviews. In order to be able to analyse the transformation within a network, three different time periods were observed: the past period around 2000, the present around 2014, and the estimated future around 2020. The data was collected from four executives positioned either in Finland, Russia or Mongolia. The respondents have a long experience within the case company, they hold managerial position, and therefore were able to offer valuable data for this study. The analytical framework used to analyse the collected data was built on the industrial network model, the ARA (actors-resources-activities)-model. The study shows that the changing business environment of Mongolia was utilised by the case company. In order to better meet the transforming customer wishes, the case company transformed from being a retailer to being a manufacturer. The case company was able to become a pioneer in the market. Thus, the case company has undergone similar kind of rapid transformation as the economy of Mongolia in entirety. This study shows that the general nature of the ARA-model makes it usable for new research contexts. The initial ARA-model offers a way to identify the dimensions of a network and a mean to understand these dimensions. The ARA-model can be applied to different contexts and to all time dimensions, past, present and future. The managerial recommendations offered in this study are directed towards the managers that plan to start operations in Mongolia. While this study is the first of its kind, it offers a good starting point for the future research on the change of Mongolian business networks. Valuable information could, for example, be obtained from a comparative study between the case company of this study and a multinational mining company operating in Mongolia.