Name of the Project
Olkiluoto (OL) 3 European pressurised reactor (EPR) project.
Location
The new plant unit is located at the western end of the Olkiluoto island, adjacent to the OL1 and OL2 units, in western Finland.
Client
Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO).
Project Description
The project involves the construction of a nuclear power plant unit, OL3, that will include an EPR.
The development is based on plants commissioned in France (N4) and Germany (Konvoi).
The unit will have an output of about 1 600 MW, and once complete will be one of the best in the world in terms of operation, safety and reliability.
Potential Job Creation
Not stated.
Value
The project is estimated at more than €5.5-billion.
Duration
According to the latest schedule update by the plant supplier, regular production at the plant unit will begin in May 2019.
Latest Developments
Hot functional tests, which started in December 2017, have been completed at the project.
The tests, which took a little over five months, were designed for the verification of the safety and operability of the plant without fuel. The start-up procedure from cold state to hot functional state was conducted in the nuclear and the turbine islands according to the operating manual of the plant. Overall, more than two-hundred different tests were undertaken at different pressure and temperature levels during the hot functional testing.
At the final phase of the extensive test programme, the turbine was driven with steam for the first time. The operating speed of the turbine is 1 500 rpm, and this was reached during the tests. The turbine generator is A massive piece of equipment; the shaft is 68 m long and the weight of the rotating mass is 1 500 t. The energy required for this test was produced using the thermal energy of the main circulation pumps.
Key Contracts and Suppliers
Areva and Siemens (plant suppliers).
On Budget and on Time?
The commercial electricity production of the plant unit was originally scheduled to start at the end of April 2009, but is now expected to start in May 2019.
The project has also seen cost overruns. The cost of the new unit was initially set at €3.2-billion, but TVO now estimates its total investment to be about €5.5-billion.
Contact Details for Project Information
OL3 senior VP Jouni Silvennoinen, tel. +358 2 8381 4100.