OL3 reaches turbine testing

16.5.2018

​ An important milestone in the hot functional tests of the Olkiluoto 3 project was achieved when today the turbine generator was rotated by steam for the first time. The maximum speed in the test was 1,500 revolutions per minute which is the nominal speed during normal operation.

Today, for the first time, a plant-level test was carried out, where the reactor and turbine plant was operated as a whole. The energy required for this was generated by the heat energy produced by the main circulation pumps. The turbine generator is a massive device with a shaft length of 68 meters.

At the hot functional test stage, the OL3 plant unit systems are tested as a whole, although still without fuel. The temperature and pressure values of the water in the primary circuit* are gradually raised to the levels that will prevail during actual production operation.

*The primary circuit refers to the circulation of water between the reactor pressure vessel and the steam generator. The temperature of the water is increased to 328 Celsius degrees in the reactor pressure vessel, and the water is then led in the reactor coolant piping to the steam generators, where heat is transferred to the secondary circuit and further as steam to the turbine. The water returns from the steam generators back to the reactor. A high pressure is maintained in the primary circuit to prevent the boiling of the water.