Areva, Siemens warn of further delay in Finnish nuclear reactor project UPDATE

Areva, Siemens warn of further delay in Finnish nuclear reactor project UPDATE

	Published : Fri, 10 Aug 2007 08:15 By : Agencies Print this Story

(updates with comment)

HELSINKI (Thomson Financial) - France's Areva and Germany's Siemens have warned of a further delay in their construction of the world's first third-generation nuclear reactor, in Olkiluoto, Finland.

The plant's owner Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO) said it has been informed by Areva and Siemens that civil construction work is progressing slower than planned and could delay the commercial launch of the Olkiluoto 3 reactor until 2011.

The reactor, Finland's fifth, was initially due to be operational in mid-2009 but has been plagued by delays. According to the previous timetable, the reactor was set to launch at the turn of 2010-2011.

In a statement, TVO said: 'The supplier has reported that the execution of the works, in particular the need to satisfy the safety requirements of the new plant, is more demanding than the supplier had anticipated.'

Martin Landtman, who heads up the reactor project for TVO, said the company was 'disappointed to learn about this setback'.

Under the new schedule provided by Areva and Siemens, the main civil construction works of the reactor building will run until winter 2009. This portion of the project was due to be completed shortly after summer 2008.

Landtman said the delay would have a knock-on effect on other building and installation work.

'TVO and the supplier will review the supplier's plans for mitigating the delays, and for the completion of the remaining works. TVO will only thereafter be in a position to communicate when the completion of the plant can be expected,' he said.

'Possibly, this announcement will not take place until the end of civil construction...However, it is likely that the new reported delays in the construction works will postpone the start of commercial operation of the plant to 2011.'

james.etheridge@thomson.com

je/lce

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