Finland's long-delayed Olkiluoto-3 nuclear reactor will go online a month later than initially scheduled due to a required modification, operator TVO said Thursday.

The EPR reactor, built by the French-led Areva-Siemens consortium on Finland's southwest coast, was started up in December for testing twelve years after its initial scheduled completion date of 2009.

The plant was supposed to be connected to Finland's national grid late last month, with regular energy production expected in June 2022.

But its operator said the start of electricity production had been postponed "due to modification needs observed during the test production phase".

"There is a need for modifications in the plant unit's automation related to control functions, as well as further testing related to the modifications," it said in a statement.

Under the revised schedule, "the OL3 EPR plant unit's electricity production starts at the end of February, and regular electricity production starts in July 2022".

At 1,650 megawatts, the plant is to become Europe's most powerful reactor, supplying 15 percent of the Nordic country's energy.

The French-developed EPR reactor model was designed to relaunch nuclear power after the Chernobyl catastrophe of 1986, and was touted as offering higher power and better safety.

But EPR builds in Finland, France and the UK have been plagued by delays and cost overruns.

cbw/ah/har

AREVA

Related Links
Nuclear Power News - Nuclear Science, Nuclear Technology
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Brussels weathers backlash over calling gas and nuclear sustainable
Brussels (AFP) Feb 2, 2022
The European Commission on Wednesday defied angry dissent from EU governments and protests from green campaigners to give a sustainable finance label to investments in both gas and nuclear power. Austria warned it will go to court to try to halt the measure, while Germany - which backed the inclusion of gas - called extending the labelling to nuclear "unacceptable". Critics of nuclear energy point to the threat posed by accidents and nuclear waste, while opponents of gas want to discourage inv ... read more