Olkiluoto: Plant start-up delayed again, delay will be at least 10 years

The start-up of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant has been delayed by around six months. Following the latest schedule change, construction of the plant will be extended by more than ten years in total. Its future operator, TVO, also fears that this date may not be final.

One of the few nuclear power plants that are currently under construction in Europe must once again revise its schedule and record a later completion date. Finland's Olkiluoto 3 plant will therefore not start up until the end of the first half of 2019.

However, the start-up date is still not final and, given that the plant is not due to start up for nearly another two years, a further schedule change is more than likely. The entire project was planned to take four years, but construction has already lasted 12 years.

Further delays are now also feared by the plant's future Finnish operator. According to TVO, there is now a real risk that Areva, which was acquired by state-owned EDF, will direct all its efforts towards its other European projects.

TVO's concerns make particular sense because EDF is set to operate Areva's other EPR reactors once they are completed. It is therefore logical that completing its own power plants is a priority for EDF. Moreover, at Hinkley Point C, where construction only recently began, there is a risk that in the event of significant delays it could lose some or all of its guaranteed support.

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TVO's concerns are also logical because the company is already in arbitration with Areva, with the core of the dispute being increased costs and construction delays.

Fennovoima already faces a one-year delay in the licensing process

Olkiluoto 3 is not the only project Finland is currently planning. The second ongoing project is the Fennovoima nuclear power plant. In September this year, reports emerged that Fennovoima, which is being built by Rosatom, had incurred a one-year delay in the licensing process. Rosatom's project is still only at an early stage, and it cannot be ruled out that its fate will be no different from that of Olkiluoto 3.

In 2015, the project for a second EPR reactor at the Olkiluoto plant was also definitively cancelled.

Source of the featured image: Flickr BBC World Service