Unit 3 of the Finnish nuclear power plant Olkiluoto reached criticality for the first time in the early morning of last Tuesday. The operator TVO announced that the reactor will be connected to the national power grid by the end of January 2022. Then it should cover 14 percent of Finnish electricity needs. So far Finland produces around a third of its electricity from nuclear power.
This is the first time in a good 40 years that a new reactor has been commissioned in Finland, according to a press release. The last time in Europe was 15 years ago. The two reactors in Loviisa have been on the grid since 1977 and 1980, respectively, and the two in Olkiluoto since 1978 and 1980.
Construction of Unit 3, a third generation pressurized water reactor, began in summer 2005. Originally it was supposed to go into operation in 2009, there were delays and construction costs rose. The originally estimated 3.2 billion euros became 9 billion.
More nuclear projects
The performance of the block is to be increased gradually. By the end of January 2022, the output is expected to be around 300 to 400 MW; regular electricity generation will begin in June 2022, with a net output of 1600 MW.
In 2010 the Finnish parliament decided to build more nuclear power plants. A fourth block was originally supposed to be built in Olkiluoto, but the project was dropped. In the municipality of Pyhäjoki, the Hanhikivi nuclear power plant is to be built by 2024, which will cost around 7.5 billion euros. The Olkiluoto nuclear waste storage facility for low and medium-level radioactive waste is to be expanded for high-level radioactive waste.
A year ago there was an incident in Block 2 of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant after an emergency cooling system had been switched off as planned in order to be able to carry out maintenance work. The incident was rated on the International Nuclear Events Rating Scale (INES) at level 0, which extends to level 7.
(anw)