Olkiluoto 3 reaches roof-top height
TVO's CEO Jarmo Tanhua concluded in his welcoming speech that TVO has changed over a period of four decades from a nuclear power company of the industry into a company, which produces electricity to the entire Finnish society. - The electricity to be generated by Olkiluoto 3, the object of celebration today, will be used widely all over Finland with the benefits spread among the entire society, said Mr. Tanhua.
Mr. Tanhua reminded that Olkiluoto 1 and 2 are standard plants of the 1970's, but their technical service life has been extended through continuous development and the safety and reliability of the units has been developed to the extent that so far more than 360 TWh of emission free electricity has already been delivered from Olkiluoto across Finland. - We wanted and ordered a unit compliant with all the latest safety requirements. This is what we will get. OL3 will meet all the requirements laid down for it in terms of safety and technology and once completed, it will be the most modern nuclear power plant unit in the world, Mr. Tanhua emphasised.
The establishment and maintenance of high safety culture has always been in the core of everyday philosophy in the operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. According to the SVP, OL3 Project, Jouni Silvennoinen, the objective in the OL3 project has been to translate safety culture into concrete work in the project organisation and also at employee level. This has involved pioneering actions in some aspects. - OL3 is a large, challenging project, which has produced a massive amount of knowledge, skills and experience. Not only TVO and its personnel, but also various subcontractor chains, authorities, research institutes as well as plant and component suppliers both in Finland and abroad have gained unique experience, said Mr. Silvennoinen.
In his speech Jean-Pierre Mouroux, the General Project Director of Consortium AREVA & Siemens, congratulated the project team. - This team of about 4 000 people is fully committed and capable to overcome the challenges and complete the project while ensuring highest levels of safety and quality. OL3 is the world first 3rd generation nuclear power plant unit. We feel the eyes of the entire nuclear world relentlessly following our progress at the Olkiluoto site.
The fifth Finnish nuclear power plant unit, Olkiluoto 3, is built as a turnkey delivery by the Consortium formed by AREVA NP and Siemens. OL3 is an EPR plant (European Pressurized water Reactor) with a net electrical output of ca. 1 600 MW. The technical basic solutions of OL3 are based on experience gained from the most modern European plant units. New technical solutions have been added to further improve safety, production capacity and reliability. Power generation at OL3 will also be more efficient and economic than at its predecessors. The amount of radioactive waste generated per each megawatt hour is also smaller owing to the higher efficiency of fuel utilisation. The annual output of the third unit in Olkiluoto will be about 13 billion kilowatt hours.
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Minister Anne Holmlund will publish an own press release today.