Civil construction works at the Olkiluoto-3 nuclear unit in Finland will take several months longer than expected, resulting in a possible delay to the startup of the unit until 2012, Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) said today.
But TVO denied media reports that it has been negotiating to share possible losses stemming from the delay with the Areva-Siemens consortium that is building the European pressurised water reactor (EPR) unit.
TVO said the plant supplier is responsible for the time schedule and possible cost increases. “TVO has a fixed-price plant supply contract and the company is not in a process of agreeing with the plant supplier upon sharing any losses, contrary to the information presented in media,” the company said in a statement.
“TVO discusses with the plant supplier continuously about matters connected to the OL3 power plant project and its progress,” the statement said. “TVO is continuing to provide support to the plant supplier so that it will complete the project as soon as possible without compromising safety and quality requirements.”
During 2008 the workforce on the site has doubled and the manufacture of several main components has been completed,” TVO said. “Erection of main turbine components and three-shift civil construction works at the reactor building continue. Currently the workforce on site is about 4,000.”
This is not the first time the schedule for Olkiluoto-3 has changed. In December 2006, Areva-Siemens said commissioning had been pushed back to the end of 2010 or beginning of 2011, a delay of up to one year from previous estimates, because construction work had been slower than planned. In December 2007 the schedule was revised again with a commissioning date of summer 2011.