Delays Strike Olkiluoto 3 Nuclear Plant--Again

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Construction at the troubled Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant project in Finland has run into further delays, which will cause the completion of the project to be pushed back by up to six months.

The news comes as the Finnish government evaluates official bids from energy companies to build three more reactors.

The latest delays confirm Industrial Info's reports from the end of last year, when project builder Areva SA (EPA:CEI) (Paris, France) admitted that a completion date of June 2012 was not going to be possible. For additional information, see related news item from October 26, 2009 - Olkiluoto 3 Nuclear Plant Delayed Again. This week, Jouni Silvennoinen, project manager at the site for Finnish nuclear power company Teollisuuden Voima (TVO), which also has a stake in the plant, confirmed that the 1,600-megawatt (MW) Olkiluoto 3 is still suffering setbacks.

"It does not look likely," Silvennoinen told Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, referring to the June 2012 kick-off date. "The construction and the start of installing the reactor have progressed somewhat slower than scheduled. It will be difficult to meet the deadline of June 2012, but the plant should be more or less completed by the end of 2012." He declined to predict when he thinks the new reactor will start producing power. Numerous experts believe that Olkiluoto may not be complete until 2013. The project was scheduled to be commissioned in May 2009, but a long series of delays and disputes will add more than three years to the project and result in a massive 3.2 billion euro ($4.3 billion) loss for plant builder Areva.

According to Silvennoinen, construction of the reactor building is almost complete. Next comes extensive installations of the many components.

"It looks likely that the installation of primary components will start in June," he said. "The installation is to start from the reactor and the pressure vessel, after which come the steam generators. There are hundreds of thousands of components and hundreds of kilometres of cables, as well as pipelines. That will certainly take time."

On top of construction issues regarding poor welding and water-logged concrete, reactor-manufacturer Areva was targeted last November by the nuclear safety authorities in the United Kingdom, Finland and France, which called on the company to modify a key part of the EPR. In an unusual alliance, a joint statement from the three watchdogs demanded that Areva make changes to the reactor's control and instrumentation systems. For additional information, see related news item from November 5, 2009 - Safety Fears Cast Shadow Over Areva's EPR Nuclear Reactor.

Olkiluoto 3 is Finland's fifth nuclear reactor, but separate plans are afoot by TVO, Fortum Oyj (HEL:FUM1V) (Espoo, Finland) and a consortium known as Fennovoima Oy (Helsinki), which have applied for planning permission to build three new reactors. The government is evaluating the bids this week. For additional information, see related news item from April 6, 2009 - Finnish Companies Await Approval for Three Nuclear Power Projects.

Political parties in the coalition Finnish government are split regarding the number of new reactors that should be approved, but it is expected that at least one reactor will get the green light, as Finland is desperate to reduce its reliance on exported electricity and gas from Russia.

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