21 July 2012

Nth Delay For Finnish EPR

On 16 July 2012, the Finnish utility TVO announced that the Olkiluoto-3 reactor « will not be ready for regular electricity production in 2014 ». TVO stated that it is « not pleased with the situation » of the EPR under construction that should have been connected to the grid in 2009. Construction costs have soared from an estimated €3 billion at construction start to between €5.7 and €6.6 billion, depending on the source. French nuclear builder AREVA immediately reacted by blaming TVO and saying it was « bearing responsibility for any slippage, which appeared during late Spring 2012 ». Neither TVO, nor AREVA indicate a new target date for start-up. However, French state utility EDF might know more. In a document published on 26 June 2012 related to its new-build projects in the UK, EDF states that « the completion date has now been rescheduled to 2016 », which would result in a construction time of eleven years instead of four originally planned for.