Milestone for Finnish Nuclear Plant

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - The troubled nuclear power station project at Olkiluoto in Finland has reached an important milestone with the installation of the massive 170-ton reactor vessel head.

With the installation of the head at Olkiluoto 3 (OL3), it marks the end of the installation of heavy equipment at what will the first operational nuclear plant based on the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR), designed by French engineering company Areva S.A. (EPA:CEI) (Paris, France).

"This delicate manoeuvre is a symbolic step in the history of the EPR reactor, and I would like to congratulate the teams who succeeded in carrying it out with perfection," stated Jean-Pierre Mouroux, Olkiluoto 3 project director, during a press conference held on site along with representatives of the Finnish utility and project owner, Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO).

Olkiluoto 3 is now the first EPR with a fully equipped reactor vessel, which is ready to accommodate a "core" of fuel assemblies, the company said. The 'highly precise' installation was carried out using the EPR's polar crane, which is used for moving heavy components around inside the reactor building.

In February this year, TVO announced that Olkiluoto 3 had run into more significant delays with its start-up date pushed back to 2016 - seven years later than originally planned. The project, which was to showcase the world's first EPR, has been an embarrassing and hugely expensive disaster. OL3 will be Finland's fifth nuclear reactor, with a capacity of 1,600-megawatt (MW). It was started back in 2005 and was supposed to have been finished and operating by the middle of 2009. Areva has had to foot a bill estimated to be billions of euro for the delays. For additional information, see February 28, 2013, article - Finland's Olkiluoto 3 Nuclear Project Delayed.

Areva's other European EPR project at Flamanville in France is also mired in delays and cost overruns. Flamanville 3 is a 1,650 MW project that is four years overdue and has cost double its original €3.3 billion ($4.7 billion) budget. For additional information, see related news item from July 25, 2011 - French Nuclear Project Delayed Until 2016.

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