Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO), the Finnish nuclear electricity generator, has today (Thursday 8 January 2004), submitted an application to the Finnish Government for the construction of a new nuclear power plant unit on the island of Olkiluoto. The plant, the third at Olkiluoto and the fifth in Finland, will be a 1.6GW European Pressurised Water Reactor (EPR), produced by the French-German consortium Framatome ANP and Siemens, as had been previously announced in December.
The application procedure includes a statutory consultation period with various government departments and the public and is expected to take approximately a year. The opinion of the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority will play a key role in the drafting of the licence decision.
Assuming that the licence is granted at the beginning of 2005, the construction of the plant will probably be completed early in 2009. During the final construction stages TVO will submit a statutory application for an operating licence. The handling of this licence application, too, is expected to last for a year or so but assuming this licence is granted the commissioning of the EPR should take place in 2009. |
