25 Feb (NucNet): Finland’s nuclear regulator Stuk has told the government that the Olkiluoto-3 nuclear power plant being built for Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) is safe and that it sees no obstacles to an operating licence being granted for the facility.

Stuk said in a statement to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy that its assessment was based on a comprehensive safety review. Stuk said it has assessed the technical and structural safety of the plant and the ability of TVO and its employees to run the plant safely.



The regulator said it sees no obstacle to granting TVO an operating licence until the end of 2038. A condition for the licence will be that TVO makes a first periodic safety re-assessment by the end of 2028 and submits it to Stuk for approval.



Stuk said the final decision whether or not an operating licence can be issued for the 1,600-MW EPR unit remains to be taken by the Finnish government.



Stuk said loading fuel into the reactor core of Olkiluoto-3 would require a separate authorisation. Stuk said one item to be monitored and checked prior to fuelling is the pressuriser surge-line vibration, which was detected in test runs of the primary circuit. According to Stuk, “alternative technical solutions” exist on the issue.



The regulator said it will inspect TVO’s plans to tackle this issue, supervise the actual implementation work, and verify the results before fuel loading can begin .



Minna Tuomainen, Stuk’s project manager for Olkiluoto-3, said that the licensee, TVO, is responsible for the safety of the plant and its operation.



Stuk said its safety assessment applies not only to plant operation, but also to nuclear fuel and nuclear waste management. TVO’s plan is to dispose of Olkiluoto’s nuclear waste at a final disposal site in Olkiluoto.



Ms Tuomainen said preparations for the commercial operation of Olkiluoto-3 are still in progress and Stuk is closely monitoring pre-startup work. She said the test run of systems is still incomplete.



According to a schedule estimate provided by Stuk, Olkiluoto-3 is expected to be connected to the national grid for the first time in October 2019. Fuel loading is expected to be done in the summer of 2019 and commercial operation is scheduled to start in early 2020.

Construction of Olkiluoto-3 began in August 2005 and it is about nine years behind schedule. In March 2018, TVO signed an agreement with Areva-Siemens (Areva was restructured into Framatome and Orano in 2017) over costs and losses caused by delays to the Olkiluoto-3 project. The settlement included compensation of €450m to be paid in two instalments.