Olkiluoto 3: Finland can finally put the nuclear power plant into operation

While the last three nuclear power plants in Germany were shutting down, the Finnish energy company TVO reported that the country’s newest reactor – Olkiluoto 3 – was finally able to start regular operation.

The third block of the nuclear power plant located on the Gulf of Bothnia has now successfully completed its trial operation and can be used regularly for the power supply. This is currently the most powerful reactor in Europe: the maximum output is given as 1600 megawatts. This block alone can cover 14 percent of Finland’s electricity requirements. It is designed for an operating life of 60 years. The entire power plant site accounts for around 30 percent.
Olkiluoto 3

The nuclear reactor was built by Areva/Framatome and Siemens. For Finland, the completion marks an important milestone in the country’s energy policy. Because if the three blocks in Olkiluoto are running, the country will be largely independent of electricity imports from abroad. That wasn’t the case for a long time. The Finnish population’s approval of the project is correspondingly high.

Long, expensive construction times

However, the construction project also shows the problems associated with relying on nuclear power for the power supply: construction of the reactor began as early as 2005. According to the original plans, the block was supposed to go into regular operation in 2009. The construction costs exploded from the planned 3 billion euros to around 12 billion euros now.

The delays had different reasons. Most recently, the reactor had to be shut down quickly during trial operation more than a year ago, the cause of which was never publicly announced. Two more nuclear reactors are currently being built in the EU: a 1,600-megawatt unit is also being built at the French power plant in Flamanville, the completion of which has been repeatedly delayed since 2012. Work is being carried out on the fourth unit at the Slovakian nuclear power plant in Mochovce, after the third unit has meanwhile been completed. Work on these began as early as the 1980s, but there was a long break after the political changes in the Eastern Bloc. Since many reactors from the first construction phases will be shut down in the coming years, the share of nuclear energy in the European electricity mix will decrease significantly.

See also:

Factory, Industry, Power Plant, Nuclear Power Plant, Heavy Industry, Nuclear Power Plant, Nuclear Power Plant