Delays Strike Finnish Nuclear Project

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- The troubled Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant in Finland has run into more trouble and its start date has been pushed back to sometime after 2014.

Plant owner, Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) announced that the already revised deadline of 2014 is no longer possible and declined to release a new date. The company blames the delays on its construction partners, Areva S.A. (EPA:CEI) (Paris, France) and Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany).

"The plant unit's installation works and plant automation system engineering under the responsibility of the supplier have not progressed according to the supplier's schedules," explained TVO spokeswoman, Anna Lehtiranta. "Even though we are not pleased with the situation and the fact that there have been repeated challenges with the time scheduling, works are progressing and solutions for remaining I&C items are fixed step by step."

In a statement, TVO added: "We expect the supplier to update the overall schedule and provide a new confirmation and analysis of the completion date as well as clarification of the measures needed to keep up with the schedule. TVO continues to provide support to the plant supplier to complete the project as soon as possible. Mechanical installations of all major components of the reactor plant have been completed, and major part of the piping installations has been carried out. Preparations for the commissioning of the plant unit are proceeding".

Partners Areva-Siemens have hit out at TVO's claims, blaming a lack of coordination and cooperation on TVO's part.

"Last December, 2011, the consortium AREVA-Siemens and TVO jointly endorsed the establishment of a shared process to consolidate the OL3 schedule. This process aiming at optimizing the final phases of the project required intense coordination of the consortium partners with their client TVO. Despite the request of the consortium AREVA-Siemens to TVO to act upon and support all efforts and challenging upcoming phases from end of construction to start-up of the plant, it appears that, TVO has not been able to demonstrate so far a clear operational organization to support the main pre-requisites to this success. AREVA-Siemens notified its client TVO that the planning had to be reassessed and that therefore TVO would be bearing responsibility for any slippage, which appeared during late Spring 2012."

Olkiluoto 3 is Finland's fifth nuclear reactor but it was meant to be the showcase for the world's first European Pressurised Reactor (EPR), designed by Areva. The project has been plagued by serious delays, in-fighting and cost overruns since it began back in 2005. The 1,600-megawatt (MW) nuclear plant was originally scheduled to be commissioned in May 2009. The delays have cost plant builder Areva billions of euro in losses. For additional information, see related news item from April 21, 2010 - Delays Strike Olkiluoto 3 Nuclear Plant--Again. It now looks like China will be the first country to commission an EPR reactor sometime next year.

Areva's other key EPR project in Europe is the Flamanville 3 nuclear power plant project in France. However, the 1,650-megawatt (MW) Flamanville project is running four years late and the costs have rocketed to €6 billion ($8.6 billion), almost double the original estimate of €3.3 billion ($4.7 billion). The plant is now expected to go live in 2016. For additional information, see related news item from August 26, 2011 - French Nuclear Project Delayed Until 2016.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.