Electricity production from the much-delayed Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor, which was scheduled to begin at the end of January, has been postponed until next month.
The plant operator Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) said in a press release that the delay was due to an unplanned shutdown of the reactor during the test phase. The causes of the outages have been clarified and corrected, the company said.
"The causes that led to the automatic trigger and corrective actions have now been addressed, but they caused a delay in the test production program. The pilot production program is currently progressing normally," the press release reported.
The statement stated that regular electricity generation is scheduled to begin in June 2022. Production will be at 30 percent capacity at the start of generation.
The reactor in Eurajoki, Southwest Finland, was originally scheduled to start generating electricity in 2009, but the reactor has been plagued by delays, including defective components and safety tests, and the delays have led to lawsuits between TVO and Areva in France. .
OL3’s sister reactor Olkiluoto 2 made headlines in December 2020 after an emergency shutdown caused by hot water entering the reactor’s cleaning system.
When completed, the OL3 reactor is expected to generate about 14 percent of Finland’s electricity.
Source: The Nordic Page