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NEW BUILD EDF HAS DELAYED the fuel loading date for Flamanville 3 from late 2022 to the second quarter of 2023, saying the Covid-19 pandemic had made start-up preparations “more difficult”. The estimated cost at completion has also increased from €12.4bn to €12.7bn.


PAKISTAN HAS COMPLETED fuel loading at Karachi 3 following formal approval from Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority. The Hualong One reactor, supplied by China, is expected to begin commercial operation by end of March.


LOADING OF 163 fresh nuclear fuel assemblies has been completed at Belarus 2 in Ostravets. The fuel was manufactured at the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant.


THE EGYPTIAN NUCLEAR Power Plant Authority has applied for a permit for construction of units 3&4 of El Dabaa nuclear power plant. El Dabaa will have four VVER-1200 reactors built by Rosatom.


KAZAKHSTAN IS CONSIDERING the village of Ulken in the Alma-Ata region and the city of Kurchatov in East Kazakhstan for the possible construction of its first large nuclear plant, Energy Minister Magzum Mirzagaliyev said.


ROSATOM HAS BEGUN construction of the sixth VVER-1000 reactor at India’s Kudankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, work is underway at unit 3 to prepare for the installation of the RPV.


OPERATION


RUSSIAN NUCLEAR PLANTS begun 2022 with a new electricity generation record of 222.436TWh in 2021, Rosenergoatom said. This made it possible to save more than 111 million tons of CO2 emissions.


equivalent


FRENCH UTILITY EDF has added Penly 1 to a list of reactors impacted by a fault first detected at Civaux 1. It has also cut its nuclear output estimate by 30TWh to a range of 300-330TWh in 2022.


SOUTH AFRICA’S KOEBERG 2 has been taken offline for refuelling and the replacement of its three steam generators and reactor pressure vessel head. The work is scheduled to take five months.


EDF ENERGY HAS confirmed a change to the expected end of generation dates for two of its UK nuclear units — Heysham 2 in Lancashire, and Torness in East Lothian, Scotland. The AGRs are now expected to continue generation until 31 March 2028.


Olkiluoto 3 Photo credit: TVO


The EPR reactor at Olkiluoto 3 in Finland achieved first criticality in the early hours of 21 December, owner and operator Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) announced. “This moment will be remembered forever as a sign of the hard work to put our new plant unit into operation. It speaks of the strong professionalism in the nuclear industry and the desire to make Finland’s largest climate work a reality,” said Marjo Mustonen TVO production director. After start-up, the power was increased step


by step, with commissioning tests performed at each power level. Electricity production starts at a capacity of 30% (500MWe). Project manager Jouni Silvennoinen said the plant will be connected to the electricity grid in January 2022. Once it begins regular electricity production — expected in June 2022 — the 1.6GW unit will generate about 14% of Finland’s electricity. Finland’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Finland (STUK) granted TVO


Olkiluoto 3 EPR starts up


permission for first criticality and low power tests. It said the commissioning tests demonstrated that the unit was operating as planned and the preconditions for its start-up and low power tests had been fulfilled. In the permit, STUK said that the


commissioning tests also included retesting after modifications. Initial hot functional tests (carried out without nuclear fuel in the reactor) were completed in 2018. These tests revealed vibrations in the pressuriser surge line. TVO said a comprehensive package would modify and update the plant’s electrical and I&C systems. It promised automation modifications and the pressuriser surge line vibrations would be stopped by modifying the pipe support and that, after modifications, the necessary commissioning tests would be repeated. TVO investigated the exceptional events


that occurred during the trial operation and conducted investigations into the most significant events. STUK monitored the progress of the test runs, clarified problems and checked the most significant modification plans, and performed the necessary inspections at the repaired and modified sites. During recent heat tests TVO was able to show that the oscillation of the pressuriser connection line that had caused problems had been reduced sufficiently with the help of dampers added to the connection line. The Areva-Siemens consortium is


constructing the plant under a fixed-price turnkey contract. They have joint liability during the guarantee period. Construction of Olkiluoto 3 began in 2005


and completion was originally scheduled for 2009. STUK project manager Essi Vanhanen said construction of the plant has been a “learning place for everyone involved”. ■


Posiva applies for licence to operate repository Posiva Oy has applied for an operating licence for the used fuel encapsulation plant and final disposal facility under construction at Olkiluoto that would apply from March 2024 to the end of 2070. Finland’s radioactive waste management company said on 30 December that it had submitted the application to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (MEAE). Posiva has been preparing for the disposal of used nuclear fuel for more than 40 years. Its encapsulation plant is above ground, and the underground fuel repository is in the bedrock at a depth of 400-430m. According to the application, the facility will house most of the used nuclear fuel from Olkiluoto


and Loviisa, the plants owned by Posiva’s owners Teollisuuden Voima and Fortum Power and Heat. Disposal of all the used nuclear fuel is expected to be completed by the late 2120s. MEAE will organise a public consultation on the licence application. The Ministry is requesting a statement on the safety of the facility from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), which will evaluate the facility design, safety and its personnel plan. Posiva was granted a construction licence by the government in November 2015 and started work in December 2016. ■


4 | February 2022 | www.neimagazine.com


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