After the reactor vessel, its head and the reactor coolant pumps, the pressurizer has been successfully introduced into the reactor building and placed in its final location at the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant in Finland.
Pressuriser fitted at OL3. Image courtesy TVO.
This key component of the reactor coolant system, 14m high, 3m in diameter and 150 tons, was manufactured at Areva’s Chalon Saint-Marcel site in France.
Its electric heaters create a steam bubble that keeps the primary circuit water at 155 bar so the primary water, which reaches 330°C, cannot boil.
The first steam generator one has already been introduced and positioned in its final location, and the second is being installed.
TVO reported that the Areva-Siemens consortium building OL3 has told it that most of the site construction works will be completed in 2012, while regular operation of the plant unit is foreseen during 2013. Areva also said that commissioning will take eight months, which means regular operation will start during the latter half of 2013, according to TVO.
