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Work on the construction of Finland's fifth nuclear power
plant has started. Electricity output from the Oikiluoto 3
unit will begin in 2009.
Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO) applied to the Government for
a building permit for the plant unit at the beginning of January.
"Work on the building site has begun and trees have been
felled. Next comes the invitation to tender for clearing and
quarrying the land. The actual building permit will probably
be obtained at the beginning of 2005," says Anneli Nikula,
a Corporate Advisor at TVO.
The new unit will be a pressurized water reactor plant with
a net capacity of about 1,600 megawatts. Apart from the site
and quarrying work, the supplier of the plant, i.e. a consortium
of Framatome ANP and Siemens, will be responsible in practice
for the construction of the entire unit on the turn-key principle,
including installation and testing, until start-up. The plant
has a planned useful life of 60 years.
Safety above all
"Right from the outset strict safety requirements have
been placed on nuclear power plants in Finland and applied
for more than 25 years. Experience has brought us high-level
know-how in nuclear technology that lays emphasis on the importance
of safety," Nikula says.
The new plant unit represents the very latest in light-water
reactor technology. The modern safety solutions also prepare
for extremely unlikely situations.
"For example, the protective building around the nuclear
reactor will be constructed to withstand the effects of a
reactor melt-down. The planning also takes into account external
threat factors to the plant's safety such as extreme weather
conditions and sabotage," Nikula says.
More electricity, fewer emissions
Finland's biggest investment decision is valued at some three
billion euros at today's prices. The plant is expected to
meet most of the increase in the demand for electricity over
the next ten years and make it easier to meet the obligations
in the Kyoto Accord.
Nikula says that the growing need for electricity, replacing
power plants that use the old fossilized fuels and reducing
carbon dioxide emissions make a difficult equation. "
The new power plant on its own will not solve the emissions
problem, but it will help considerably in controlling them.
Nor will it alone meet the increasing need for electricity
output. There will still be a need for plenty of investment
in renewable fuels."
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Nuclear waste in bedrock
The final repository for the spent nuclear fuel accumulating
at Finland's nuclear power plants will be in the bedrock
at Oikiluoto, at a depth of about 500 metres. A new
stage in studies of the bedrock at Oikiluoto will begin
when the construction of ONKALO, i.e. the underground
characterization facility, starts this year.
The aim of the underground studies is to ensure the
suitability of the chosen place by identifying the geological
conditions suited to final disposal. ONKALO will also
make it possible to test the final disposal technology
in genuine conditions.
After the completion of ONKALO in the 2010s, the intention
is to start building the actual final disposal plant,
which will include an encapsulation plant on the surface,
other buildings and structures above ground level, and
the final disposal facility quarried deep into the bedrock.
ONKALO will also be part of the actual final disposal
facility.
The plant is due to come on-stream in 2020 and according
to current plans it will still be operating in the 2120s.
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