Factory acceptance tests of process automation of OL3 completed

30.7.2015

​ The Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority STUK approved the factory acceptance tests of the process control and instrumentation systems (I&C) of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant unit of Teollisuuden Voima as completed. The testing carried out in the German testing facility of the Areva-Siemens Consortium, the supplier of the OL3 plant, was designed to verify the operation of the I&C systems.

The factory acceptance tests of the OL3 process I&C systems were started in Erlangen in Germany in April 2014. The I&C tests progressed in phases to completion in July 2015. At the next stage, the process I&C systems will be delivered to the plant site in Olkiluoto for testing together with the process as part of the commissioning of the plant unit.

- According to the plant supplier's schedule, regular electricity production can start at OL3 towards the end of the year 2018. Based on this, TVO will submit the operating licence application for OL3 next year. Once the licence has been granted, the loading of the nuclear fuel can be carried out and the nuclear commissioning of the plant started, Jouni Silvennoinen, Senior Vice President responsible for the OL3 Project at TVO, explains the next stages of the project.

I&C systems are used for the monitoring and control of the OL3 plant unit. There will be several separate and independent I&C systems at the Olkiluoto 3 plant unit, ensuring the safety of the plant in all conditions and circumstances. Process automation systems are designed for normal operating conditions of the process, while safety automation systems control the safety functions in potential transient and accident conditions. The testing of the safety I&C systems is in progress and will go on until the end of 2015.

For more information, please contact:

Jouni Silvennoinen, Senior Vice President, Olkiluoto 3 Project, tel. +358 2 8381 4100