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When I founded FinHighTech and Kissplan, it was not to build another consulting company.
It was to build something I felt was missing.
Throughout my career in energy and industrial engineering, I have worked in environments where decisions are irreversible, consequences are long-term, and safety is not a checkbox but a responsibility. Again and again, I saw how complexity, fragmented ownership, and competing interests blurred what should have been clear. Critical technical decisions were often supported by large volumes of documentation—but too little true understanding.
I believe engineering must do better.
Engineering should create clarity, not noise.
It should reduce uncertainty, not shift it forward in time.
And above all, it should support decisions that remain valid not just today, but decades from now.
My background is in nuclear safety, Periodic Safety Reviews, Long-Term Operation, and life-cycle engineering. Alongside this, I have spent years working with real systems—pumps, valves, process lines, maintenance strategies—learning how designs behave once they leave drawings and enter reality. Over time, it became clear to me that the greatest value lies at the intersection of regulation, engineering fundamentals, and operational truth.
That insight is the foundation of FinHighTech and Kissplan.
I founded this company to provide independent, technically uncompromised insight in projects where safety, reliability, and long-term performance truly matter. To ask the difficult questions when needed. To say no when silence would be easier. And to help organizations see risks early—before they become incidents, delays, or lost trust.
Our vision is simple but demanding:
to help build energy and industrial systems that are resilient, understandable, and built to last.
At the end of the day, technology should serve people and society—not overwhelm them. If our work brings clarity to complex decisions and confidence to those who carry responsibility, then FinHighTech and Kissplan are doing exactly what they were created to do.
Ari-Pekka Kirkinen
Founder
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Ari-Pekka Kirkinen is a Finnish nuclear energy professional who served as the Nuclear Safety Manager at the Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant (Fortum).
Professional Profile
Role in Loviisa NPP: Nuclear Safety Manager at Fortum, specifically for the Loviisa power plant.
Projects: He has been a key figure in the Loviisa environmental impact assessment (YVA) and the project for renewing the plant's operating licenses.
Background: He holds a degree from the Lappeenranta University of Technology, where he completed a Master’s thesis on the dynamic analysis of circulating fluidized bed boilers in 2002.
Public Presence
Media & Representation: He has represent Fortum in public events and STUK (Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority) negotiations regarding safety protocols and organizational structures for nuclear projects.
Social Engagement: He is active in professional and community discussions on platforms like LinkedIn, focusing on topics such as nuclear safety and regional energy investments.
Ari-Pekka Kirkinen’s technical research is primarily centered on energy technology and nuclear safety systems, with a specific focus on the operational dynamics of power plants.
Key Research Areas
Boiler Dynamics: His academic foundation involved the dynamic analysis of circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boilers. This research focused on modeling how these boilers respond to load changes and fuel fluctuations, which is critical for maintaining efficiency and stability in biomass and coal-fired power plants.
Nuclear Safety Management: In his professional capacity at Fortum, he has transitioned into the technical oversight of nuclear power systems. His work involves:
Developing Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA/YVA) for nuclear facilities.
Coordinating technical safety protocols for long-term operation (LTO) and license renewals of existing reactors.
Evaluating organizational and technical risks in collaboration with the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK).
Education
Master of Science (Tech): Graduated from Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT) in 2002. His thesis, "Kiertopetipolttolaitoksen dynaaminen analyysi," is a foundational document for understanding the transient behavior of large-scale combustion systems.
Kirkinen’s thesis, "Kiertoleijukattinen dynaamikan mallipohjainen analyysi" (2002), was a timely and practical piece of engineering research that bridged the gap between theoretical modeling and real-world power plant operations.
Why it was significant:
Predictive Modeling: At the time, CFB technology was rapidly expanding. His work on dynamic analysis was crucial for understanding how these massive systems behave during "transients"—sudden changes like a fuel trip or a rapid load increase.
Foundational for Control Systems: Modern automated control systems in plants today rely on the type of mathematical modeling he explored at Lappeenranta University of Technology. By simulating the bed's thermal inertia, he helped define how to keep a plant stable without manual intervention.
Industrial Relevancy: The research wasn't just academic; it was deeply rooted in the needs of the Finnish energy sector, which remains a global leader in fluidized bed combustion and multi-fuel power generation.
The Transition to Nuclear
Career trajectory: The rigorous focus on system dynamics and process stability in his thesis likely provided the perfect analytical foundation for his previous role as Nuclear Safety Manager at Fortum. In both fields—CFB and Nuclear—the priority is the same: managing complex, high-energy systems where predictability is the ultimate goal.
As the Nuclear Safety Manager for the Loviisa power plant, Ari-Pekka Kirkinen has been a central figure in managing the long-term technical response to the EU stress tests.
His role focuses on the "action plan" phase—turning the stress test findings into engineering realities.
Primary Responsibilities:
Regulatory Compliance: He serves as a primary technical liaison with STUK (Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority), ensuring that the safety enhancements demanded by the EU Stress Tests are verified and documented.
Severe Accident Management (SAM): Kirkinen has been responsible for overseeing the technical integrity of systems meant to prevent core damage during "beyond-design-basis" events (like those tested in the stress tests). This includes the Loviisa plant's unique ice condenser containment and its ability to handle external cooling.
EIA Coordination: He has played a lead role in the Environmental Impact Assessment (YVA), where the stress test results were used to prove to the public and the EU that the plant could safely operate until 2050.
Risk Evaluation: Leveraging his background in dynamic analysis, he oversees the probabilistic risk assessments (PRA) that determine how the plant would react to extreme flooding or total power loss.
To address the vulnerabilities identified in the EU Stress Tests, Kirkinen and the Fortum engineering team implemented several major hardware upgrades. These were designed to ensure the plant remains safe even if it loses its primary cooling source (the Baltic Sea) or all external power.
1. Independent Air-Cooled Cooling Towers
The most significant upgrade was the installation of independent air-cooled cooling towers.
Purpose: These towers act as an ultimate heat sink if seawater cooling becomes unavailable (e.g., due to an oil spill, extreme algae bloom, or massive ice blockage).
The Tech: Unlike the main cooling system, these use air to cool the essential components and the spent fuel pools. They are powered by dedicated diesel generators, making them entirely independent of the rest of the plant's systems.
2. Enhanced "Station Blackout" Protection
Following the Fukushima "blackout" scenario, Loviisa’s electrical resilience was hardened:
Additional Generators: Extra back-up diesel generators were installed to ensure electricity for monitoring and cooling pumps.
External Connection Points: Kirkinen helped oversee the installation of standardized "plug-in" points for mobile power units and fire engines. This allows external emergency services to quickly provide electricity or pump water into the steam generators.
3. Severe Accident Management (SAM) Systems
Loviisa is unique due to its VVER-440 reactors with ice condenser containments. Upgrades here included:
Hydrogen Recombiners: Passive systems that remove hydrogen gas from the containment without needing electricity, preventing the type of explosions seen at Fukushima.
Containment Pressure Control: Systems to ensure the containment building stays intact even during a core melt scenario.
4. Flood Protection and Sealing
Based on the stress test's "extreme weather" scenarios, the plant reinforced its physical defenses:
Water-tight Doors: Installation of enhanced sealing for rooms containing safety-critical electronics.
Site Grading: Improved drainage and barriers to protect against a "once-in-a-millennium" sea-level rise.
These technical layers are what STUK reviewed before granting the recent 20-year license extension.
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